a game played on ice in which special flat, round stones are slid towards a mark.

Curlers sweep the ice to help the stone travel farther and straighter. Sweeping in front of the stone reduces friction and helps the curlers control the amount of curl the stone undergoes. The sweeping quickly heats and melts the pebbles on the ice leaving a film of water.

The purpose of a game is to score points by getting stones closer to the house centre, or the "button", than the other team's stones. Players from either team alternate in taking shots from the far side of the sheet. An end is complete when all eight rocks from each team have been delivered, a total of sixteen stones.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, stones were culled from river bottoms. They often curved – or curled, hence the name – as they slid across the ice. In the seventeenth century, handles were added for easier delivery on the ice as was the use of brooms to clear snow from the path of the stone.