a barrier of secrecy and censorship regarded as isolating the Soviet Union and other countries in its sphere: often with the
a similar barrier to information in other regions
Origin:
prob. calque of Ger eiserner vorhang, as used by Joseph Goebbels: popularized by Sir Winston Churchill in a speech (1946)
See iron curtain in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
often Iron Curtain The military, political, and ideological barrier established between the Soviet bloc and western Europe from 1945 to 1990.
A barrier that prevents free exchange of ideas and information: “That department and the editorial department are separated by an almost impenetrable iron curtain”(Brendan Gill).