curtain
Use Curtain in a sentence
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tn noun
1.
a hanging piece of fabric used to shut out the light from a window, adorn a room, increase privacy, etc.
2.
a movable or folding screen used for similar purposes.
3.
Chiefly New England. a window shade.
4.
Theater.
a.
a set of hanging drapery for concealing all or part of the stage or set from the view of the audience.
b.
the act or time of raising or opening a curtain at the start of a performance: an 8:30 curtain.
c.
the end of a scene or act indicated by the closing or falling of a curtain: first-act curtain.
d.
an effect, line, or plot solution at the conclusion of a performance: a strong curtain; weak curtain.
e.
music signaling the end of a radio or television performance.
f.
(used as a direction in a script of a play to indicate that a scene or act is concluded.)
5.
anything that shuts off, covers, or conceals: a curtain of artillery fire.
verb (used with object)
9.
to provide, shut off, conceal, or adorn with, or as if with, a curtain.
00:10
Curtain
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is yaff. Does it mean:
| to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle. |
| to bark; yelp. |
10.
draw the curtain on/over,
a.
to bring to a close: to draw the curtain on a long career of public service.
b.
to keep secret.
11.
lift the curtain on,
a.
to commence; start.
b.
to make known or public; disclose: to lift the curtain on a new scientific discovery.
Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English co(u)rtine < Anglo-French, Old French < Late Latin cortīna, probably equivalent to co(ho)rt- (stem of cohors; see court) + -īna -ine1, as calque of Greek aulaía curtain, derivative of aulḗ courtyard
1250–1300; Middle English co(u)rtine < Anglo-French, Old French < Late Latin cortīna, probably equivalent to co(ho)rt- (stem of cohors; see court) + -īna -ine1, as calque of Greek aulaía curtain, derivative of aulḗ courtyard
Related forms
cur·tain·less, adjective
un·cur·tained, adjective
Synonyms
1. drapery, portiere, lambrequin, valance. 1, 3. Curtain, blind, shade, shutter agree in being covers for a window, to shut out light or keep persons from looking in. Curtain, blind and shade may mean a cover, usually of cloth, which can be rolled up and down inside the window. Curtain however, may also refer to a drapery at a window; and a Venetian blind consists of slats mounted on tapes for drawing up or down and varying the pitch of the slats. Blind and shutter may mean a cover made of two wooden frames with movable slats, attached by hinges outside a window and pulled together or opened at will. Shutters may mean also a set of panels (wooden or iron) put up outside small shops or stores at closing time.
1. drapery, portiere, lambrequin, valance. 1, 3. Curtain, blind, shade, shutter agree in being covers for a window, to shut out light or keep persons from looking in. Curtain, blind and shade may mean a cover, usually of cloth, which can be rolled up and down inside the window. Curtain however, may also refer to a drapery at a window; and a Venetian blind consists of slats mounted on tapes for drawing up or down and varying the pitch of the slats. Blind and shutter may mean a cover made of two wooden frames with movable slats, attached by hinges outside a window and pulled together or opened at will. Shutters may mean also a set of panels (wooden or iron) put up outside small shops or stores at closing time.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To Curtain
Collins
World English Dictionary
curtain (ˈkɜːtən) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a piece of material that can be drawn across an opening or window, to shut out light or to provide privacy |
| 2. | a barrier to vision, access, or communication: a curtain of secrecy |
| 3. | a hanging cloth or similar barrier for concealing all or part of a theatre stage from the audience |
| 4. | the curtain the end of a scene of a play, opera, etc, marked by the fall or closing of the curtain |
| 5. | the rise or opening of the curtain at the start of a performance |
| —vb (sometimes foll by off) | |
| 6. | to shut off or conceal with or as if with a curtain |
| 7. | (tr) to provide (a window, etc) with curtains |
| [C13: from Old French courtine, from Late Latin cortīna enclosed place, curtain, probably from Latin cohors courtyard] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
curtain
c.1300, from O.Fr. curtine, from L.L. cortina "curtain," but originally "round vessel, cauldron," from L. cortem (older cohortem) "enclosure, courtyard." The confusion apparently begins in using cortina as a loan-translation for Gk. aulaia ("curtain") in the Vulgate (to render Heb. yeriah in Exodus xxvi:1,
etc.) because the Gk. word was connected to aule "court," perhaps because the "door" of a Gk. house that led out to the courtyard was a hung cloth. The fig. sense in curtain call is from 1884. Curtains "the end" is 1912, originally from stage plays.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Easton
Bible Dictionary
Curtain definition
(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.
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
curtain
In addition to the idioms beginning with curtain, also see draw the curtain; raise the curtain; ring down the curtain.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Example sentences
He imagines that a window curtain is a stage curtain with a packed auditorium on the other side.
Then they would walk behind a curtain to be confronted by the mirror.
Make a shower curtain by threading a length of rope through the eyelets on a standard opaque shower curtain.
The majority of the photos were of cattle, farmers or a weather related event, such as the wind blowing the curtain.
Idioms & Phrases
Image for Curtain
Nearby Words
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