Dictionary-Definition.com :: Curtain definition

Definition of 'curtain'

noun

Hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window) [syn: curtain, drape, drapery, mantle, pall]

noun

Any barrier to communication or vision; "a curtain of secrecy"; "a curtain of trees"

verb

Provide with drapery; "curtain the bedrooms"

From: 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]

From: GCIDE

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]

Curtain
Ten curtains, each twenty-eight cubits long and four wide, made of fine linen, also eleven made of goat's hair, covered the tabernacle (Ex. 26:1-13; 36:8-17).
The sacred curtain, separating the holy of holies from the sanctuary, is designated by a different Hebrew word (peroketh). It is described as a "veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work" (Ex. 26:31; Lev. 16:2; Num. 18:7).
"Stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain" (Isa. 40:22), is an expression used with reference to the veil or awning which Orientals spread for a screen over their courts in summer. According to the prophet, the heavens are spread over our heads as such an awning. Similar expressions are found in Ps. 104:2l; comp. Isa. 44:24; Job 9:8.