CURTAIN

curtain, drape, drapery, mantle, pall

(noun) hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)

curtain

(noun) any barrier to communication or vision; “a curtain of secrecy”; “a curtain of trees”

curtain

(verb) provide with drapery; “curtain the bedrooms”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

curtain (plural curtains)

A piece of cloth covering a window, bed, etc. to offer privacy and keep out light.

A similar piece of cloth that separates the audience and the stage in a theater.

(theater) By extension, the beginning of a show; the moment the curtain rises.

(fortifications) The flat area of wall which connects two bastions or towers; the main area of a fortified wall.

(euphemistic, also "final curtain") Death.

(architecture) That part of a wall of a building which is between two pavilions, towers, etc.

(obsolete, derogatory) A flag; an ensign.

Verb

curtain (third-person singular simple present curtains, present participle curtaining, simple past and past participle curtained)

To cover (a window) with a curtain; to hang curtains.

(figuratively) To hide, cover or separate as if by a curtain.

Synonyms

• becurtain

Anagrams

• turacin

Source: Wiktionary

Cur"tain (kr"tn; 48), n. Etym: [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.]

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.

2. (Fort.)

Definition: That part of the rampart and parapet which is between two bastions or two gates. See Illustrations of Ravelin and Bastion.

3. (Arch.)

Definition: That part of a wall of a building which is between two pavilions, towers, etc.

4. A flag; an ensign; -- in contempt. [Obs.] Shak. 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. 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 ot 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.

Cur"tain, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Curtained (-tnd; 48); p. pr. & vb. n. Curtaining.]

Definition: To inclose as with curtains; to furnish with curtains. So when the sun in bed Curtained with cloudy red. Milton.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition