Curtain Window Piece Cloth Cover Looked Hung Back

• to draw/pull/close the curtains (= to pull them across the window so they cover it)
• she opened her curtains and looked out.
• it was ten in the morning but the curtains were still drawn (= closed).
• a pair of curtains

curtain

1. a piece of cloth that is hung to cover a window
• to draw/pull/close the curtains (= to pull them across the window so they cover it)
• She opened her curtains and looked out.
• It was ten in the morning but the curtains were still drawn (= closed).
• a pair of curtains
• She looked up and saw a face peering through the curtains.

Extra Examples

• Heavy red velvet curtains hung either side of the huge window.
• She pulled back the curtains, and sunlight streamed in.
• The curtains billowed as the wind caught them.
• They sat in the dark with the curtains drawn.
2. a very thin piece of cloth that you hang at a window and that allows light to enter but stops people outside from being able to see inside
3. a piece of cloth that is hung up as a screen in a room or around a bed, for example
• SEE ALSO Iron Curtain
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/the-iron-curtain
• a shower curtain
• He took a bag from a shelf behind some curtains.
4. a piece of thick, heavy cloth that hangs in front of the stage in the theatre
• SEE ALSO drop curtain
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/drop-curtain
• The audience was waiting for the curtain to rise (= for the play to begin).
• The curtain goes up to reveal a grand piano at the back of the stage.
• There was tremendous applause when the curtain came down (= the play ended).
• We left just before the final curtain (= the end of a play).
• It's time to face the final curtain (= the end; death).
• The curtain has fallen on her long and distinguished career (= her career has ended).
5. a thing that covers, hides or protects something
• a curtain of rain/smoke
• She pushed back the curtain of brown hair from her eyes.
6. to be a situation without hope or that you cannot escape from
• When I saw he had a gun, I thought it was curtains for me.
7. to finish or mark the end of something
• His sudden decision to retire brought down the curtain on a distinguished career.

Word Origin

• Middle English: from Old French cortine, from late Latin cortina, translation of Greek aulaia, from aulē ‘court’.