1.
[syn: curtain, drape, drapery, mantle, pall]
2. any barrier to communication or vision;
- Example: "a curtain of secrecy"
- Example: "a curtain of trees"
VERB (1)
1. provide with drapery;
- Example: "curtain the bedrooms"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Curtain \Cur"tain\ (k[^u]r"t[i^]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.]
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Fort.) That part of the rampart and parapet which is
between two bastions or two gates. See Illustrations of
Ravelin and Bastion.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Arch.) That part of a wall of a building which is between
two pavilions, towers, etc.
[1913 Webster]
4. A flag; an ensign; -- in contempt. [Obs.] --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Curtain \Cur"tain\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Curtained
(k[^u]r"t[i^]nd; 48); p. pr. & vb. n. Curtaining.]
To inclose as with curtains; to furnish with curtains.
[1913 Webster]
So when the sun in bed
Curtained with cloudy red. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
curtain
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"