The game of curling is thought to have been invented in late medieval Scotland, with the first written reference to a contest using stones on ice coming from the records of Paisley Abbey, Renfrewshire, in February 1541. Two paintings (both dated 1565) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder depict Dutch peasants curling—Scotland and the Low Countries had strong trading and cultural links during this period, which is also evident in the history of golf.

Curling has been an official sport in the Winter Olympic Games since the 1998 Winter Olympics. In February 2006, the International Olympic Committee retroactively decided that the curling competition from the 1924 Winter Olympics (originally called Semaine des Sports d'Hiver, or International Winter Sports Week) would be considered official Olympic events and no longer be considered demonstration events. Thus, the first Olympic medals in curling, which at the time was played outside, were awarded for the 1924 Winter Games, with the gold medal won by Great Britain and Ireland, two silver medals by Sweden, and the bronze by France. A demonstration tournament was also held during the 1932 Winter Olympic Games between four teams from Canada and four teams from the United States, with Canada winning 12 games to 4.

The curling sheet, by World Curling Federation standards, is an area of ice 146 to 150 feet (45 to 46 m) in length by 14.5 to 16.5 feet (4.4 to 5.0 m) in width,[8] carefully prepared to be as close to level as possible. The ice is most often frozen by means of a refrigeration plant that cools a brine solution running lengthwise in numerous pipes under the curling sheet. A key part of the preparation of the playing surface is the spraying of water droplets, called "pebble," onto the level ice. Due to the friction between the stone and pebble, the stone turns to the inside or outside, causing the stone to "curl." The amount of curl can change during a game as the pebble wears. The surface of the ice is maintained at a temperature around 23 °F (−5 °C).

A competitive game usually consists of ten ends. Recreational games are most commonly eight ends. An end consists of each player from both teams throwing two rocks down the sheet with the players on each side alternating shots, for a total of sixteen rocks. If the teams are tied at the completion of ten ends, an extra end is played to break the tie. If the match is still tied after the extra end, play continues for as many ends as may be required to break the tie. The winner is the team with the highest score after all ends have been completed (see Scoring, below).

It is not uncommon at any level for a losing team to terminate the match before all ends are completed if it believes it no longer has a realistic chance of winning. Playoff games at national and world championships require eight ends to be completed before allowing a losing team to concede in this manner. Competitive games will usually end once the losing team is "run out of rocks"—that is, once it has fewer stones in play and/or available for play than the number of points needed to tie the game in the final end.

In international competition, each side is given 73 minutes to complete all of their throws. Each team is also allowed two 60-second timeouts per ten-end game. If extra ends are required, each team is allowed ten minutes of playing time to complete their throws and one added 60-second timeout for each extra end.