curtsy

2 definitions • 3 examples

to bend quickly at the knees, with one foot in front of the other, especially to show respect. This is traditionally done in formal situations, especially by women and girls:

People he met in the street bowed and curtsied.

curtsy to She curtsied to the Queen.

a movement in which a girl or woman bends quickly at the knees, with one foot in front of the other, especially to show respect:

give a curtsy She gave a curtsy before presenting the flowers to the princess.