curtain

Noun · Verb

WordNet 3.0

Noun (2)

hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)Synonyms: drape drapery mantle pall
any barrier to communication or vision“a curtain of secrecy”“a curtain of trees”

Verb (1)

provide with drapery“curtain the bedrooms”

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

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]

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]