Curtains are large pieces of material which you hang from the top of a window.
[mainly British]
Her bedroom curtains were drawn.
regional note: in AM, usually use drapes
Synonyms: hanging, drape [mainly US], portière More Synonyms of curtain
2. countable noun
Curtains are pieces of very thin material which you hang in front of windows in order to prevent people from seeing in.
[US]regional note: in BRIT, use net curtains
3. singular noun
In a theatre, the curtain is the large piece of material that hangs in front of the stage until a performancebegins.
The curtain rises toward the end of the Prelude.
4. singular noun
You can refer to something as a curtain when it is thick and difficult to see through or get past.
[literary]
...a curtain of cigarette smoke.
Something dark disappeared behind the curtain of leaves. [+ of]
Synonyms: screen, veil, shroud, pall More Synonyms of curtain
5. See also Iron Curtain
6.
See bring down the curtain
curtain in British English
(ˈkɜːtən)
noun
1.
a piece of material that can be drawn across an opening or window, to shut out light or to provide privacy
2.
a barrier to vision, access, or communication
a curtain of secrecy
3.
a hanging cloth or similar barrier for concealing all or part of a theatre stage from the audience
4. the curtain
5.
the rise or opening of the curtain at the start of a performance
verb
6. (transitive; sometimes foll byoff)
to shut off or conceal with or as if with a curtain
7. (transitive)
to provide (a window, etc) with curtains
Word origin
C13: from Old French courtine, from Late Latin cortīna enclosed place, curtain, probably from Latin cohors courtyard
curtain in American English
(ˈkɜrtən)
noun
1.
a piece of cloth or other material, sometimes arranged so that it can be drawn up or sideways, hung for decoration, as at a window, or to cover, conceal, or shut off something
2.
anything that covers, conceals, separates, or shuts off
a curtain of fog
3.
that part of a wall between two bastions, gates, etc.
4. Architecture
an enclosing wall that does not support a roof
5. Theatre
a.
the large drape or hanging screen at the front of the stage, which is drawn up or aside to reveal the stage
b.
the opening of the curtain at the beginning, or its closing at the end, of a play, act, or scene
c.
an effect, line, or situation in a play just before the curtain closes
d.
curtain call
6. US; [pl.]; Slang
death; the end
verb transitive
7.
to provide or decorate with a curtain
8.
to cover, conceal, or shut off as with a curtain
Idioms:
draw the curtain on
lift the curtain on
Word origin
ME & OFr cortine < LL(Ec) cortina, lit. a cauldron, enclosing circle of a theater, curtain (< IE base *(s)ker-, to curve); used in Vulg. instead of L cors, cohors (see court) to translate Gr aulaia, curtain (esp. in a theater) < aulē, open court, taken as if same word as L aula, pot: for IE base see oven
More idioms containing
curtain
bring the curtain down on something
Examples of 'curtain' in a sentence
curtain
Yesterday the curtains were drawn and locals said that she had gone away.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
She pointed to a curtain at the end of the loft.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Could it be curtains for theatre venue?
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
We piled up desks and used old blankets as curtains to provide privacy.
Stewart, Bob (Lt-Col) Broken Lives (1993)
Check that stitching is at right angles to curtain top.
Churchill, Jane (ed.) Collins Complete Books of Soft Furnishings (1993)
The curtains can hang on a thin curtain pole or a covered wire.
Churchill, Jane (ed.) Collins Complete Books of Soft Furnishings (1993)
The boats anchored out in the bay all have their curtains shut tight.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Bringing the curtain down on his nonstop party hurt him more than anything.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
They were really doing it artfully from behind the window curtains.
J.M. Barrie Peter Pan (1911)
The dancers are in place and raring to go as soon as the curtains part.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Cricket usually grants a batsman his curtain call at the end of his innings.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The curtain is suspended from a covered curtain wire or a thin curtain pole.
Churchill, Jane (ed.) Collins Complete Books of Soft Furnishings (1993)
We also have the bedroom curtains open too.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Note that thick curtains will cut heat loss and your heating bill.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The fire safety curtain would come up and down during shows and asbestos would be released.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
There was to be one final curtain call.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It is as if he is positioning himself on stage before the curtain rises.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The box is then locked with me inside and a curtain is drawn over it.
The Sun (2013)
And why does returning behind the curtain at the end seem a loss?
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
It has dragged back the curtains of musical theatre and muscled its way on to the classical podium.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The right medication will feel like opening the curtains on a dark room and letting the sunlight flood in.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Only members of the older generation would now draw the curtains in their front room if a neighbour or relative had died.
Carpenter, Anne & Johnson, Geoffrey Why am I Afraid to Grieve (1994)
They climbed up the drawing-room windows and sat at the top of the curtains.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
If the family are planning a holiday, a setting for lights and curtains monitors their routine for a fortnight and then mimics it while they are away.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Lights and curtains lower.
Christianity Today (2000)
In other languages
curtain
British English: curtain /ˈkɜːtn/ NOUN
Curtains are hanging pieces of material which you can pull across a window to keep light out or prevent people from looking in.
She drew the curtains in her bedroom.
American English: curtain
Arabic: سِتَارَة
Brazilian Portuguese: cortina
Chinese: 窗帘
Croatian: zavjesa
Czech: závěs
Danish: gardin
Dutch: gordijn
European Spanish: cortina
Finnish: verho
French: rideau
German: Vorhang
Greek: κουρτίνα
Italian: tenda
Japanese: カーテン
Korean: 커튼
Norwegian: gardin
Polish: zasłona
European Portuguese: cortina
Romanian: perdea
Russian: занавеска
Latin American Spanish: cortina
Swedish: gardin
Thai: ผ้าม่าน
Turkish: perde
Ukrainian: штора
Vietnamese: rèm cửa
All related terms of 'curtain'
air curtain
an air stream across a doorway to exclude draughts , etc
curtain rod
a metal rod from which a curtain is hung
curtain-up
the moment when the curtain is raised and a play or similar show begins
net curtain
Net curtains are curtains made of thin cloth that people hang across their windows to stop people outside seeing into their houses in the daytime .
the curtain
the end of a scene of a play, opera , etc, marked by the fall or closing of the curtain
curtain call
In a theatre , when actors or performers take a curtain call , they come forward to the front of the stage after a performance in order to receive the applause of the audience .
curtain hook
a hook used to attach a curtain to a curtain rail
curtain line
the last line of a scene , act, etc., as in a play; tag line
curtain pole
a pole from which a curtain is hung in front of a window, door, etc
curtain rail
a rail from which a curtain is hung
curtain ring
a wooden , plastic , or metal ring used to attach a curtain to a curtain pole
curtain wall
a non-load-bearing external wall attached to a framed structure, often one that is prefabricated
door curtain
a curtain that fills a doorway
drop curtain
a curtain that is suspended from the flies and can be raised and lowered onto the stage
final curtain
→ the final curtain
fire curtain
theatre → another name for safety curtain
Iron Curtain
People referred to the border that separated the Soviet Union and the communist countries of Eastern Europe from the Western European countries as the Iron Curtain .
bamboo curtain
(esp in the 1950s and 1960s) the political and military barrier to communications around the People's Republic of China
curtain lecture
a scolding or rebuke given in private , esp by a wife to her husband
curtain raiser
A curtain-raiser is an event, especially a sporting event or a performance , that takes place before a more important one, or starts off a series of events.
curtain speech
a talk given in front of the curtain after a stage performance , often by the author or an actor
safety curtain
a curtain made of fireproof material that can be lowered to separate the auditorium and stage in a theatre to prevent the spread of a fire
shower curtain
a plastic curtain which covers the entrance to a shower
curtain-twitcher
a person who likes to watch unobserved what other people are doing
the final curtain
the closing of the curtain at the end of the action of a play
draw the curtain on
to end
lift the curtain on
to begin
ring down the curtain
to lower the curtain at the end of a theatrical performance
ring up the curtain
to begin a theatrical performance
bring down the curtain
If something brings down the curtain on an event or situation , it causes or marks the end of it.
bring the curtain down on something
to cause or mark the end of an event or situation
Chinese translation of 'curtain'
curtain
(ˈkəːtn)
n(c)
(esp Brit, at window) 窗帘(簾) (chuānglián) (幅, fú)
美 = drape
(in theatre) 帷幕 (wéimù)
to draw the curtains (together) 拉上窗帘(簾) (lāshàng chuānglián) (apart) 拉开(開)窗帘(簾) (lākāi chuānglián)
1 (noun)
Definition
a piece of material hung at an opening or window to shut out light or to provide privacy
Her bedroom curtains were drawn.
Synonyms
hanging
a giant antique embroidered hanging
drape mainly US)
portière
2 (noun)
Definition
something forming a barrier or screen
a curtain of cigarette smoke
Synonyms
screen
They put a screen in front of me.
veil
She swathed her face in a veil of decorative muslin.
shroud
a parked car huddled under a shroud of grey snow
pall
A pall of black smoke drifted over the cliff-top.
phrasal verb
See curtain something off
Additional synonyms
in the sense of pall
Definition
a dark heavy covering
A pall of black smoke drifted over the cliff-top.
Synonyms
cloud,
shadow,
veil,
mantle,
shroud
in the sense of shroud
Definition
anything that hides things
a parked car huddled under a shroud of grey snow
Synonyms
covering,
veil,
mantle,
screen,
cloud,
pall
in the sense of veil
Definition
a piece of thin cloth, usually as part of a hat or headdress, used to cover a woman's face
She swathed her face in a veil of decorative muslin.