curtain raiser

curtain raiser

noun
1.
a short play preceding a main play.
2.
any preliminary event or performance.

Origin:
1885–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Curtain raiser is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

curtain raiser

Preliminary event, as in This limited attack on the chairman is just a curtain raiser for the concerted effort to oust him. This term literally refers to a short play or skit presented before the main theatrical production. It began to be transferred to other preliminaries about 1940.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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