Robert Curl ro·bert·curl uncommon noun 1. American chemist who with Richard Smalley and Harold Kroto discovered fullerenes and opened a new branch of chemistry (born in 1933) SynonymsCurlRobert CurlRobert F. CurlRobert Floyd Curl Jr. Related words Broader terms chemist WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved.