Adjacent Words

Curtain definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CURTAIN, n. [Low L., in fortification. This word may be from the root of court, and from the sense of separating.]
1. A cloth hanging round a bed, or at a window, which may be contracted, spread or drawn aside at pleasure; intended for ornament, or for use. Also, the hangings about the ark, among the Israelites.
2. A cloth-hanging used in theaters, to conceal the stage from the spectators. This is raised or let down by cords. Hence the phrases, to drop the curtain, to close the scene, to end; to raise the curtain or the curtain will rise, to denote the opening of the play. And to draw the curtain, is to close it, to shut out the light or to conceal an object; or to open it and disclose the object. Behind the curtain, in concealment, in secret.
3. In fortification, that part of the rampart which is between the flanks of two bastions, bordered with a parapet five feet high, behind which the soldiers stand to fire on the covered way and into the moat.
4. In scripture, tents; dwellings. Hab
3:7.
CURTAIN, v.t. To inclose with curtains; to furnish with curtains.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window) [syn: curtain, drape, drapery, mantle, pall]
2: any barrier to communication or vision; "a curtain of secrecy"; "a curtain of trees" v
1: provide with drapery; "curtain the bedrooms"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English curtine, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin cortina (translation of Greek aulaia, from aul? court), from Latin cohort-, cohors enclosure, court — more at court Date: 14th century 1. a hanging screen usually capable of being drawn back or up; especially window drapery 2. a device or agency that conceals or acts as a barrier — compare iron curtain 3. a. the part of a bastioned front that connects two neighboring bastions b. (1) a similar stretch of plain wall (2) a nonbearing exterior wall 4. a. the movable screen separating the stage from the auditorium of a theater b. the ascent or opening (as at the beginning of a play) of a stage curtain; also its descent or closing (as at the end of an act) c. the final situation, line, or scene of an act or play d. the time at which a theatrical performance begins e. plural end; especially death <it will be curtains for us if we're caught> • curtainless adjective II. transitive verb (curtained; curtaining) Date: 14th century 1. to furnish with or as if with curtains 2. to veil or shut off with or as if with a curtain

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a piece of cloth etc. hung up as a screen, usu. moveable sideways or upwards, esp. at a window or between the stage and auditorium of a theatre. 2 Theatr. a the rise or fall of the stage curtain at the beginning or end of an act or scene. b = curtain-call. 3 a partition or cover. 4 (in pl.) sl. the end. --v.tr. 1 furnish or cover with a curtain or curtains. 2 (foll. by off) shut off with a curtain or curtains. Phrases and idioms: curtain-call Theatr. an audience's summons to actor(s) to take a bow after the fall of the curtain. curtain-fire Mil. a concentration of rapid and continuous fire. curtain lecture a wife's private reproof to her husband, orig. behind bed-curtains. curtain-raiser 1 Theatr. a piece prefaced to the main performance. 2 a preliminary event. curtain-wall 1 Fortification the plain wall of a fortified place, connecting two towers etc. 2 Archit. a piece of plain wall not supporting a roof. Etymology: ME f. OF cortine f. LL cortina transl. Gk aulaia f. aule court

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Curtain Cur"tain (k?r"t?n; 48), n. [OE. cortin, curtin,fr. OF. cortine, curtine, F. courtine, LL. cortina, curtian (in senses 1 and 2), also, small court, small inclosure surrounded by walls, from cortis court. See Court.] 1. A hanging screen intended to darken or conceal, and admitting of being drawn back or up, and reclosed at pleasure; esp., drapery of cloth or lace hanging round a bed or at a window; in theaters, and like places, a movable screen for concealing the stage. 2. (Fort.) That part of the rampart and parapet which is between two bastions or two gates. See Illustrations of Ravelin and Bastion. 3. (Arch.) That part of a wall of a building which is between two pavilions, towers, etc. 4. A flag; an ensign; -- in contempt. [Obs.] --Shak. Behind the curtain, in concealment; in secret. Curtain lecture, a querulous lecture given by a wife to her husband within the bed curtains, or in bed. --Jerrold. A curtain lecture is worth all the sermons in the world for teaching the virtues of patience and long-suffering. --W. Irving. The curtain falls, the performance closes. The curtain rises, the performance begins. To draw the curtain, to close it over an object, or to remove it; hence: (a) To hide or to disclose an object. (b) To commence or close a performance. To drop the curtain, to end the tale, or close the performance.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Curtain Cur"tain, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Curtained (-t?nd; 48); p. pr. & vb. n. Curtaining.] To inclose as with curtains; to furnish with curtains. So when the sun in bed Curtained with cloudy red. --Milton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(curtains) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Curtains are large pieces of material which you hang from the top of a window. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use drapes) Her bedroom curtains were drawn. N-COUNT 2. Curtains are pieces of very thin material which you hang in front of windows in order to prevent people from seeing in. (AM; in BRIT, use net curtains) N-COUNT 3. In a theatre, the curtain is the large piece of material that hangs in front of the stage until a performance begins. The curtain rises toward the end of the Prelude. N-SING: the N 4. You can refer to something as a curtain when it is thick and difficult to see through or get past. (LITERARY) He saw something dark disappear behind the curtain of leaves. N-SING: usu N of n see also Iron Curtain 5. If something brings down the curtain on an event or situation, it causes or marks the end of it. Management changes are under way that will finally bring down the curtain on Lord Forte's extraordinary working life. PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(1.) Ten curtains, each twenty-eight cubits long and four wide, made of fine linen, also eleven made of goat's hair, covered the tabernacle (Ex. 26:1-13; 36:8-17).

(2.) The sacred curtain, separating the holy of holies from the sanctuary, is designated by a different Hebrew word (peroketh). It is described as a "veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work" (Ex. 26:31; Lev. 16:2; Num. 18:7).

(3.) "Stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain" (Isa. 40:22), is an expression used with reference to the veil or awning which Orientals spread for a screen over their courts in summer. According to the prophet, the heavens are spread over our heads as such an awning. Similar expressions are found in Ps. 104:2l; comp. Isa. 44:24; Job 9:8.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kur'-t'-n, -ten, -tin: The word ordinarily used for curtain is yeri`ah. Thus in Ex 26:1 ff; 36:8 ff of the curtains of the tabernacle (see TABERNACLE); in 2Sa 7:2; Ps 104:2; So 1:5; Isa 54:2; Jer 4:20; 10:20; 49:29; Hab 3:7.

Figurative: In Isa 40:22 (like Ps 104:2, of the heavens), the word used is doq, literally, "gauze."

Moby Thesaurus

Z, abatis, act, act drop, advanced work, afterpiece, apodosis, apply to, asbestos, asbestos board, awning, backdrop, balistraria, bamboo curtain, bank, banquette, barbed-wire entanglement, barbican, barricade, barrier, barrier of secrecy, bartizan, bastion, batten, battlement, beach umbrella, becloud, befog, bit, blackout, blanket, blind, block, blockade, border, bottleneck, breastwork, bulwark, camouflage, canopy, casemate, catastrophe, catch, ceasing, censorship, cessation, chaser, cheval-de-frise, circumvallation, cloak, cloth, clothe, cloud, coat, coda, conceal, conclusion, consummation, contravallation, cope, cordon, coulisse, counterscarp, counterweight, cover, cover up, coverage, covering, covert, coverture, cowl, cowling, crack of doom, culmination, curtain board, curtain call, curtain raiser, curtains, cyclorama, death, decease, decor, demibastion, denouement, destination, destiny, determent, deterrent, difficulty, dike, disguise, dissemble, distract attention from, divertimento, divertissement, doom, drape, drapery, draw the curtains, drawback, drawbridge, drop, drop curtain, earthwork, eclipse, effect, enclosure, end, end point, ending, ensconce, enshroud, entanglement, envelop, envoi, epilogue, escarp, escarpment, eschatology, exode, exodus, expiration, expository scene, fate, fence, fieldwork, film, final solution, final twitch, final words, finale, finality, finis, finish, fire curtain, flat, flipper, fortalice, fortification, glacis, gloss over, goal, guise, hang-up, hanging, hazard, hide, hitch, hoke act, hood, housing, hurdle, hush-up, interlude, intermezzo, intermission, introduction, iron curtain, ironbound security, izzard, joker, keep under cover, last, last breath, last gasp, last things, last trumpet, last words, latter end, lay on, lay over, light shield, loophole, lunette, machicolation, mantelet, mantle, mask, merlon, mound, muffle, number, oath of secrecy, obduce, obfuscate, objection, obscure, obstacle, obstruction, obstructive, occult, official secrecy, omega, one small difficulty, outwork, overlay, overshadow, overspread, palisade, pall, parados, parapet, parasol, payoff, period, peroration, portcullis, postern gate, prologue, put on, quietus, rag, rampart, ravelin, redan, redoubt, repression, resolution, resting place, routine, rub, sally port, scarp, scene, scenery, sconce, screen, scum, seal of secrecy, security, shade, shader, shadow, shelter, shield, shroud, shtick, shutter, side scene, sketch, skit, slur over, smothering, snag, song and dance, spread over, stage screw, stand-up comedy act, stifling, stockade, stoppage, stopping place, striptease, stumbling block, stumbling stone, sunblind, sunshade, superimpose, superpose, suppression, swan song, tab, tableau, teaser, tenaille, term, terminal, termination, terminus, tormentor, transformation, transformation scene, turn, umbrella, vallation, vallum, varnish, veil, veil of secrecy, vestment, whitewash, windup, wing, wingcut, woodcut, work, wraps