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screen

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screen

[skreen]
–noun
1. a movable or fixed device, usually consisting of a covered frame, that provides shelter, serves as a partition, etc.
2. a permanent, usually ornamental partition, as around the choir of a church or across the hall of a medieval house.
3. a specially prepared, light-reflecting surface on which motion pictures, slides, etc., may be projected.
4. motion pictures collectively or the motion-picture industry.
5. Electronics, Television. the external surface of the large end of a cathode-ray tube of a television set, radar receiver, etc., on which an electronically created picture or image is formed.
6. Computers.
a. Also called video screen. the portion of a terminal or monitor upon which information is displayed.
b. frame (def. 10).
7. anything that shelters, protects, or conceals: a screen of secrecy; A screen of fog prevented our seeing the ship.
8. a frame holding a mesh of wire, cloth, or plastic, for placing in a window or doorway, around a porch, etc., to admit air but exclude insects.
9. a sieve, riddle, or other meshlike device used to separate smaller particles or objects from larger ones, as for grain or sand.
10. a system for screening or grouping people, objects, etc.
11. Military. a body of troops sent out to protect the movement of an army.
12. Navy. a protective formation of small vessels, as destroyers, around or in front of a larger ship or ships.
13. Physics. a shield designed to prevent interference between various agencies: electric screen.
14. Electronics. screen grid.
15. Photography. a plate of ground glass or the like on which the image is brought into focus in a camera before being photographed.
16. Photoengraving. a transparent plate containing two sets of fine parallel lines, one crossing the other, used in the halftone process.
17. Sports.
a. any of various offensive plays in which teammates form a protective formation around the ball carrier, pass receiver, shooter, etc.
b. any of various defensive plays in which teammates conceal or block an opposing ball carrier, pass receiver, shooter, or the goal, basket, net, etc., itself.
–verb (used with object)
18. to shelter, protect, or conceal with or as if with a screen.
19. to select, reject, consider, or group (people, objects, ideas, etc.) by examining systematically: Job applicants were screened by the personnel department.
20. to provide with a screen or screens to exclude insects: He screened the porch so they could enjoy sitting out on summer evenings.
21. to sift or sort by passing through a screen.
22. to project (a motion picture, slide, etc.) on a screen.
23. Movies.
a. to show (a motion picture), esp. to an invited audience, as of exhibitors and critics.
b. to photograph with a motion-picture camera; film.
c. to adapt (a story, play, etc.) for presentation as a motion picture.
24. to lighten (type or areas of a line engraving) by etching a regular pattern of dots or lines into the printing surface.
–verb (used without object)
25. to be projected on a motion-picture screen.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME screne (n.) < AF; OF escren (F écran) < Frankish *skrank, c. OHG scrank barrier (G Schrank cupboard)


screen⋅a⋅ble, adjective
screener, noun
screenless, adjective
screenlike, adjective


7. guard, shield. See cover. 18. veil, defend, shield, hide, mask.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To screen
screen   (skrēn)   
n.  
  1. A movable device, especially a framed construction such as a room divider or a decorative panel, designed to divide, conceal, or protect.

  2. One that serves to protect, conceal, or divide: Security guards formed a screen around the President. A screen of evergreens afforded privacy from our neighbors.

  3. A coarse sieve used for sifting out fine particles, as of sand, gravel, or coal.

  4. A system for preliminary appraisal and selection of personnel as to their suitability for particular jobs.

  5. A window or door insertion of framed wire or plastic mesh used to keep out insects and permit air flow.

    1. The white or silver surface on which a picture is projected for viewing.

    2. The movie industry: a star of stage and screen. Also called silver screen.

    3. Electronics The phosphorescent surface on which an image is displayed, as on a television, computer monitor, or radar receiver.

    4. Computer Science The information or image displayed at a given time on such a computer monitor: printing a hard copy of the screen.

    5. Sports A block, set with the body, that impedes the vision or movement of an opponent.

    6. Football A screen pass.

    1. Electronics The phosphorescent surface on which an image is displayed, as on a television, computer monitor, or radar receiver.

    2. Computer Science The information or image displayed at a given time on such a computer monitor: printing a hard copy of the screen.

    3. Sports A block, set with the body, that impedes the vision or movement of an opponent.

    4. Football A screen pass.

  6. Electronics The electrode placed between the anode and the control grid in a tetrode valve. Also called screen grid.

  7. Printing A glass plate marked off with crossing lines, placed before the lens of a camera when photographing for halftone reproduction.

  8. A body of troops or ships sent in advance of or surrounding a larger body to protect or warn of attack.

    1. Sports A block, set with the body, that impedes the vision or movement of an opponent.

    2. Football A screen pass.

tr.v.   screened, screen·ing, screens
  1. To provide with a screen: screen a porch.

    1. To conceal from view with or as if with a screen. See Synonyms at block, hide1.

    2. To protect, guard, or shield.

    3. To examine (a job applicant, for example) systematically in order to determine suitability.

    4. To test or evaluate (a student) to determine placement in an educational system or to identify specific learning needs.

    5. To test or examine for the presence of disease or infection: screen blood; screen a patient.

    6. To subject to genetic screening.

    7. To block the vision or movement of (an opponent) with the body.

    8. To obscure an opponent's view of (a shot) by positioning oneself between the opponent and the shooter.

  2. To separate or sift out (fine particles of sand, for example) by means of a sieve or screen.

  3. To show or project (a movie, for example) on a screen.

    1. To examine (a job applicant, for example) systematically in order to determine suitability.

    2. To test or evaluate (a student) to determine placement in an educational system or to identify specific learning needs.

    3. To test or examine for the presence of disease or infection: screen blood; screen a patient.

    4. To subject to genetic screening.

    5. To block the vision or movement of (an opponent) with the body.

    6. To obscure an opponent's view of (a shot) by positioning oneself between the opponent and the shooter.

  4. Sports

    1. To block the vision or movement of (an opponent) with the body.

    2. To obscure an opponent's view of (a shot) by positioning oneself between the opponent and the shooter.


[Middle English screne, from Old North French escren, from Middle Dutch scherm, shield, screen; see sker-1 in Indo-European roots.]
screen'a·ble adj., screen'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

screen  (n.)
1393, probably from an aphetic (Anglo-Fr.?) variant of O.N.Fr. escren, O.Fr. escran "a screen against heat" (1318), perhaps from M.Du. scherm "screen, cover," or Frank. *skrank "barrier," from a Gmc. root related to O.H.G. skirm, skerm "protection" (cf. skirmish). Meaning "net-wire frame used in windows and doors" is recorded from 1895. Meaning "flat horizontal surface for reception of projected images" is from 1810, originally in ref. to magic lantern shows; later of movies. Transf. sense of "cinema world collectively" is attested from 1914; hence screenplay (1938), screen test (1922), screenwriter (1921). Verbal meaning "to shield from punishment, to conceal" is recorded from 1485; meaning "examine systematically for suitability" is from 1943; sense of "to release a movie" is from 1915. Screen saver first attested 1990.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

screen

To examine various securities with the goal of selecting a limited number that meet certain predetermined requirements. For example, an investor might screen all electric utilities for stock that offers a dividend yield of 8% or more and a price-earnings ratio of 8 or less.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: screen
—see INTENSIFYING SCREEN, SUNSCREEN, TRIPLE SCREEN
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

screen (skrēn)
n.

  1. One that serves to protect, conceal, or divide.

  2. The white or silver surface on which a picture is projected for viewing.

  3. A screen memory.

v. screened, screen·ing, screens
  1. To process a group of people in order to select or separate certain individuals from it.

  2. To test or examine for the presence of disease or infection.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Science Dictionary
screen   (skrēn)  Pronunciation Key 
  1. The surface on which an image is displayed, as on a television, computer monitor, or radar receiver.

  2. An electrode placed between the plate (anode) and the control grid in a tetrode valve, used to reduce the capacitance between the grid and the plate, increasing its ability to respond to high frequencies, especially radio frequencies.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Computing Dictionary

screen
1. A generic term for a display device that shows text and/or images on a roughly flat rectangular surface. The most common type is usually refered to as a "monitor" and is based on a cathode-ray tube, though flat panel displays have, since around 2000, become increasingly competitive in price and performance.
(2005-07-28)
2. A screen multiplexer utility which lets you run multiple interactive terminal sessions (and curses programs) through a single terminal connection (on one virtual console, one terminal, through one modem link, telnet session or xterm).
Screen can detach processes from one terminal and attach them to another. "Auto-detach" lets you continue working after being disconnected and reconnected. It supports keyboard driven cut and paste from any text and/or curses application (like Lynx) to any other (like xemacs).
Screen comes with many Linux distributions and is available (free) on many other Unix platforms.
(2005-07-29)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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