curtain

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   any barrier to communication or vision

   a curtain of secrecy

2. 2
   verb

   to provide with drapery

   I curtained the bedrooms.

3. 3
   noun

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

   He drew the curtains at 11:00pm before falling asleep.

4. 4
   noun

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

   “H'm !” he said, “so, so—it is a tragedy in a prologue and three acts. I am going down this afternoon to see the curtain fall for the third time on what[…]will prove a good burlesque ; but it all began dramatically enough. It was last Saturday[…]that two boys, playing in the little spinney just outside Wembley Park Station, came across three large parcels done up in American cloth.[…]”

5. 5
   noun

   The beginning of a show; the moment the curtain rises.

   He took so long to shave his head that we arrived 45 minutes after curtain and were denied late entry.

6. 6
   noun

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

   Captain Rense, beleagring the Citie of Errona for us, […] caused a forcible mine to be wrought under a great curtine of the walles […].

7. 7
   noun

   Death, final curtain.

   For life is quite absurd / And death's the final word / You must always face the curtain with a bow.

8. 8
   noun

   A flag; an ensign.

   Their ragged curtains poorly are let loose

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English curtine, from Old French cortine, from Late Latin cōrtīna (“curtain”), a calque from Ancient Greek.