Definition of "curtsy" [curtsy]

• A gesture of respect or reverence made chiefly by women by bending the knees with one foot forward and lowering the body. (noun)
• To make a curtsy. (verb-intransitive)

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.

• "He is not ashamed to commend Mlle. X., who has only had a curtsy to make, if her curtsy has been the ideal curtsy of the situation; and he is not afraid to overhaul M. A., who has delivered the tirade of the play, if M. A., has failed to hit the mark."
• "I never could enter the Rotunda in the Paris menagerie, without being furnished with bread or carrots for its inhabitants: the instant the Indian elephant caught sight of me, he used to sit down, get up again, make what was called a curtsy, and play other antics; and the instant I came before him, squat down again; his trunk raised, and his enormous mouth wide open to receive what I threw into it; the attitude was so grotesque and imploring, that it was impossible to deny him."
• "The young Elizabeth, the one who would be queen, whispers to her sister Margaret, "curtsy"."