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A flag; an ensign; -- in contempt. [Obs.] Shak. 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. A curtain lecture is worth all the sermons in the world for teaching the virtues of patience and long-suffer…

To inclose with curtains.

To curtain. [Obs.]

To remove a curtain from; to reveal. Moore.

hing provided as a substitute; a makeshift. He goes to work devising apologies for window curtains. Dickens.

two flanks, and so constructed that it is able to defend by a flanking fire the adjacent curtain, or wall which extends from one bastion to another. Two adjacent bastions are connected by the curtain, which joins the flank of one with the adjacent flank of the other. The distance between the flanks of a bastion is cal…

de of jute or hemp, used for bagging; also, a finer variety of similar material, used for curtains, etc. [Written also burlaps.]

h a play; also, a small shrill instrument for making such a noise. Upon the rising of the curtain. I was very much surprised with the great consort of catcalls which was exhibited. Addison.

a damp consisting principally of carboniCarbonic acid, under Carbonic. -- Damp sheet, a curtain in a mine gallery to direct air currents and prevent accumulation of gas. -- Fire damp, a damp consisting chiefly of light carbureted hydrogen; -- so called from its tendence to explode when mixed with atmospheric air and…

A four-wheeled carriage, with curtained sides.

A work constructed beyond the main ditch of a fortress, and in front of the curtain between two bastions, intended to defend the curtain; a ravelin. See Ravelin.

r moist with, dew. A dewy mist Went and watered all the ground. Milton. When dewy eve her curtain draws. Keble.

al; to make known; to show (what has been secret, unseen, or unknown). Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover The several caskets to this noble prince. Shak. Prosperity doth best discover vice; but adversity doth best discover virtue. Bacon. We will discover ourselves unto them. 1 Sam. xiv. 8. Discover not a secret…

A curtain which drops or falls in front of the stage of a theater, etc.

That part of a bastion which reaches from the curtain to the face, and defends the curtain, the flank and face of the opposite bastion; any part of a work defending another by a fire along the outside of its parapet. See Illust. of Bastion.

A large bedstead with tall posts at the corners to support curtains. [Colloq.]

The beginning. "Summer's front." Shak. Bastioned front (Mil.), a curtain connerting two half bastions. -- Front door, the door in the front wall of a building, usually the principal entrance. -- Front of fortification, the works constructed upon any one side of a polygon. Farrow. -- Front of operations, all that par…

ence or decoration in a house or apartment, as tables, chairs, bedsteads, sofas, carpets, curtains, pictures, vases, etc.

y of a Coptic church. It contains the high altar, and is usually closed by an embroidered curtain.

or escaping; to sustain; to restrain; to keep in the grasp; to retain. The loops held one curtain to another. Ex. xxxvi. 12. Thy right hand shall hold me. Ps. cxxxix. 10. They all hold swords, being expert in war. Cant. iii. In vain he seeks, that having can not hold. Spenser. France, thou mayst hold a serpent by the t…