CURTAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does curtain mean? 

• CURTAIN (noun)
  The noun CURTAIN has 2 senses:

1. hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)

2. any barrier to communication or vision

  Familiarity information: CURTAIN used as a noun is rare.

• CURTAIN (verb)
  The verb CURTAIN has 1 sense:

1. provide with drapery

  Familiarity information: CURTAIN used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CURTAIN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

curtain; drape; drapery; mantle; pall

Hypernyms ("curtain" is a kind of...):

blind; screen (a protective covering that keeps things out or hinders sight)

furnishing ((usually plural) the instrumentalities (furniture and appliances and other movable accessories including curtains and rugs) that make a home (or other area) livable)

Meronyms (parts of "curtain"):

eyehole; eyelet (a small hole (usually round and finished around the edges) in cloth or leather for the passage of a cord or hook or bar)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "curtain"):

drop; drop cloth; drop curtain (a curtain that can be lowered and raised onto a stage from the flies; often used as background scenery)

festoon (a curtain of fabric draped and bound at intervals to form graceful curves)

frontal (a drapery that covers the front of an altar)

portiere (a heavy curtain hung across a doorway)

shower curtain (a curtain that keeps water from splashing out of the shower area)

theater curtain; theatre curtain (a hanging cloth that conceals the stage from the view of the audience; rises or parts at the beginning and descends or closes between acts and at the end of a performance)

Derivation:

curtain (provide with drapery)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any barrier to communication or vision

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Context example:

a curtain of trees

Hypernyms ("curtain" is a kind of...):

barrier (anything serving to maintain separation by obstructing vision or access)

• CURTAIN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they curtain    ... he / she / it curtains   
Past simple: curtained   
Past participle: curtained   
-ing form: curtaining   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Provide with drapery

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

curtain the bedrooms

Hypernyms (to "curtain" is one way to...):

furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

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

 Context examples 

He left his seat before the curtain went down on the last act, intent on seeing Her as she passed out.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

They reached a curtained door, behind which sounded lovely music.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Then he put on her clothes, dressed himself in her cap laid himself in bed and drew the curtains.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

She must own that she was tired of seeing great houses; after going over so many, she really had no pleasure in fine carpets or satin curtains.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The paper over each window was impenetrable to light, and a blue curtain was drawn across the glass work in front.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

New research using data from NASA's Cassini mission suggests most of the eruptions from Saturn's moon Enceladus might be diffuse curtains rather than discrete jets.

(Saturn Moon's Activity Could Be 'Curtain Eruptions', NASA)

All the peace and soothing of quiet Nature lay in that dark curtain of vegetation, but away from behind there came ever the one message from our fellow-man.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She passed down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see what passed in the hall beneath.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The eyes are large and brown, sometimes warm like a candle behind a curtain, sometimes very hard and bright like broken ice when sun shines upon it.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

So I pulled the curtains again, and have written of this day.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)