drop curtain : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: drop curtain	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for drop curtain
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
drop curtain n a curtain that can be lowered and raised onto a stage from the flies; often used as background scenery Synonym(s): drop curtain, drop cloth, drop
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Drop \Drop\, n. [OE. drope, AS. dropa; akin to OS. dropo, D. drop, OHG. tropo, G. tropfen, Icel. dropi, Sw. droppe; and Fr. AS. dre[a2]pan to drip, drop; akin to OS. driopan, D. druipen, OHG. triofan, G. triefen, Icel. drj[?]pa. Cf. {Drip}, {Droop}.] 1. The quantity of fluid which falls in one small spherical mass; a liquid globule; a minim; hence, also, the smallest easily measured portion of a fluid; a small quantity; as, a drop of water. With minute drops from off the eaves. --Milton. As dear to me as are the ruddy drops That visit my sad heart. -- Shak. That drop of peace divine. --Keble. 2. That which resembles, or that which hangs like, a liquid drop; as a hanging diamond ornament, an earring, a glass pendant on a chandelier, a sugarplum (sometimes medicated), or a kind of shot or slug. 3. (Arch.) (a) Same as {Gutta}. (b) Any small pendent ornament. 4. Whatever is arranged to drop, hang, or fall from an elevated position; also, a contrivance for lowering something; as: (a) A door or platform opening downward; a trap door; that part of the gallows on which a culprit stands when he is to be hanged; hence, the gallows itself. (b) A machine for lowering heavy weights, as packages, coal wagons, etc., to a ship's deck. (c) A contrivance for temporarily lowering a gas jet. (d) A curtain which drops or falls in front of the stage of a theater, etc. (e) A drop press or drop hammer. (f) (Mach.) The distance of the axis of a shaft below the base of a hanger. 5. pl. Any medicine the dose of which is measured by drops; as, lavender drops. 6. (Naut.) The depth of a square sail; -- generally applied to the courses only. --Ham. Nav. Encyc. 7. Act of dropping; sudden fall or descent. {Ague drop}, {Black drop}. See under {Ague}, {Black}. {Drop by drop}, in small successive quantities; in repeated portions. [bd]Made to taste drop by drop more than the bitterness of death.[b8] --Burke. {Drop curtain}. See {Drop}, n., 4. (d) . {Drop forging}. (Mech.) (a) A forging made in dies by a drop hammer. (b) The process of making drop forgings. {Drop hammer} (Mech.), a hammer for forging, striking up metal, etc., the weight being raised by a strap or similar device, and then released to drop on the metal resting on an anvil or die. {Drop kick} (Football), a kick given to the ball as it rebounds after having been dropped from the hands. {Drop lake}, a pigment obtained from Brazil wood. --Mollett. {Drop letter}, a letter to be delivered from the same office where posted. {Drop press} (Mech.), a drop hammer; sometimes, a dead-stroke hammer; -- also called drop. {Drop scene}, a drop curtain on which a scene is painted. See {Drop}, n., 4. (d) . {Drop seed}. (Bot.) See the List under {Glass}. {Drop serene}. (Med.) See {Amaurosis}.