Definition of "curtal" []

• Archaic An animal with a docked tail. (noun)
• Archaic Something cut short or docked. (noun)
• Obsolete Cut short or docked. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Then there is George Merredith, who writes 16 line sonnets; Hopkins who invents the 6/4.5! proportioned curtal sonnet."
• "“Name her not — and for an instant think not of her,” said the King, again straining the curtal-axe in his gripe, until the muscles started above his brawny arm, like cordage formed by the ivy around the limb of an oak."
• "Beside it, as if prompt for defending the regal symbol, lay a mighty curtal-axe, which would have wearied the arm of any other than Coeur de Lion."