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What is "the curtain rises"

The Collaborative International Dictionary
The curtain rises

Curtain \Cur"tain\ (k[^u]r"t[i^]n; 48), n. [OE.cortin, curtin,fr. OF. cortine, curtine, F. courtine, LL. cortina, curtian (in senses 1 and 2), also, small court, small inclosure surrounded by walls, from cortis court. See Court.]

  1. A hanging screen intended to darken or conceal, and admitting of being drawn back or up, and reclosed at pleasure; esp., drapery of cloth or lace hanging round a bed or at a window; in theaters, and like places, a movable screen for concealing the stage.

  2. (Fort.) That part of the rampart and parapet which is between two bastions or two gates. See Illustrations of Ravelin and Bastion.

  3. (Arch.) That part of a wall of a building which is between two pavilions, towers, etc.

  4. 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-suffering. --W. Irving. The curtain falls, the performance closes. The curtain rises, the performance begins. To draw the curtain, to close it over an object, or to remove it; hence:

    1. To hide or to disclose an object.

    2. To commence or close a performance.

      To drop the curtain, to end the tale, or close the performance.

Usage examples of "the curtain rises".

It was a magical time, made up of fantastic elements having all miraculously arrived at the same spot at one instant, the inaudible sigh the inner ear hears in that last moment in a theatre before the curtain rises.

Then the curtain rises, and you will see the girl to whom I am going to give all my life, to whom I have given everything that is good in me.

On the part of the auditory, it arose from that feeling of gratified impatience which is experienced at the theatre, at the conclusion of the last interlude of a play, when the curtain rises, and the fifth act begins.

It is time to go to the opera, for the curtain rises at half-past six, or to the beer-gardens, where delicious music marks, but does not interrupt, the flow of excellent beer.