from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Screen \Screen\ (skr[=e]n), n. [OE. scren, OF. escrein, escran,
F. ['e]cran, of uncertain origin; cf. G. schirm a screen,
OHG. scirm, scerm a protection, shield, or G. schragen a
trestle, a stack of wood, or G. schranne a railing.]
1. Anything that separates or cuts off inconvenience, injury,
or danger; that which shelters or conceals from view; a
shield or protection; as, a fire screen.
[1913 Webster]
Your leavy screens throw down. --Shak.
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Some ambitious men seem as screens to princes in
matters of danger and envy. --Bacon.
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2. (Arch.) A dwarf wall or partition carried up to a certain
height for separation and protection, as in a church, to
separate the aisle from the choir, or the like.
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3. A surface, as that afforded by a curtain, sheet, wall,
etc., upon which an image, as a picture, is thrown by a
magic lantern, solar microscope, etc.
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4. A long, coarse riddle or sieve, sometimes a revolving
perforated cylinder, used to separate the coarser from the
finer parts, as of coal, sand, gravel, and the like.
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5. (Cricket) An erection of white canvas or wood placed on
the boundary opposite a batsman to enable him to see ball
better.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
6. a netting, usu. of metal, contained in a frame, used
mostly in windows or doors to allow in fresh air while
excluding insects.
{Screen door}, a door of which half or more is composed of a
screen.
{Screen window}, a screen inside a frame, fitted for
insertion into a window frame.
[PJC]
7. The surface of an electronic device, as a television set
or computer monitor, on which a visible image is formed.
The screen is frequently the surface of a cathode-ray tube
containing phosphors excited by the electron beam, but
other methods for causing an image to appear on the screen
are also used, as in flat-panel displays.
[PJC]
8. The motion-picture industry; motion pictures. "A star of
stage and screen."
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