curtain off

verb

To separate, isolate or block by means of a curtain or other barrier.

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Meanings

verbcurtain off (third-person singular simple present curtains off, present participle curtaining off, simple past and past participle curtained off)

present singular third person curtains off · participle present curtaining off · participle past curtained off · past curtained off

  1. To separate, isolate or block by means of a curtain or other barrier.

    For furniture there was a table and chair, and a bed, slovenly made; one corner of the room was curtained off.

    1986, J. M. Coetzee, chapter III, in Foe, Penguin, published 1987, page 113
    1 more example

    The encircling, mile-high mountains of the Coeur d'Alene mining area, rich in lead, zinc and silver, curtain off the sunlight except for a few midday hours.

    1960 November 14, “Strike Town”, in Time
  2. figurativelyTo isolate.

    I am talking about a way of regarding our world as amenable to investigation and interrogation without magic keys, special jargons and instruments, curtained-off practices.

    1993, Edward Said, Culture and Imperialism, New York: Vintage, published 1994, Chapter Four, Section II, p. 312
Cite this entry
APA

curtain off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curtain%20off

MLA

“curtain off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curtain%20off. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “curtain off,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curtain%20off.

Source: curtain off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.