Library / English Dictionary

CURTAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

curtain; drape; drapery; mantle; pall

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

Example:

a curtain of trees

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

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

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

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Provide with drapery

Example:

curtain the bedrooms

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

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))

Credits

 Context examples: 

There are small windows on each side, which were covered by curtains and never opened.

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

No one has ever raised that curtain since.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"What were you doing behind the curtain?" he asked.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He then closed the door behind the bulky form which followed him and carefully adjusted the heavy curtain over the latticed window.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Certain agents I found to have the power to shake and pluck back that fleshly vestment, even as a wind might toss the curtains of a pavilion.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

You will wonder, said she, what has been fixing my eye so long; but I was looking after some window-curtains, which Lady Alicia and Mrs Frankland were telling me of last night.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

A footman answered our knock, and we were ushered into a large drawing-room with sombre furniture and melancholy curtains.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Ah! sir—but a thoughtless young person will sometimes step behind a window-curtain, and throw up a sash, without its being suspected.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The curtain will be a good job, however.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The window curtains seemed in motion.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)