Screen Definition

skrēn
screened, screening, screens
noun
screens
A light, movable, covered frame or series of frames hinged together, serving as a portable partition to separate, conceal, shelter, or protect.
Webster's New World
Any partition or curtain serving such a purpose.
Webster's New World
Anything that functions to shield, protect, or conceal.
A smoke screen.
Webster's New World
A coarse mesh of wire, etc., used to sift out finer from coarser parts, as of sand or coal; sieve.
Webster's New World
A system for preliminary appraisal and selection of personnel as to their suitability for particular jobs.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
verb
screened, screening, screens
To be screened or suitable for screening, as in films.
Webster's New World
To provide with a screen or screens.
Webster's New World
To separate, conceal, shelter, or protect, with or as with a screen.
Webster's New World
To sift through a coarse mesh so as to separate finer from coarser parts.
Webster's New World
To protect, guard, or shield.
American Heritage
Antonyms:

Other Word Forms of Screen

Noun

Singular:
screen
Plural:
screens

Origin of Screen

  • From Middle English scren, screne (“windscreen, firescreen"), from Anglo-Norman escren (“firescreen, the tester of a bed"), Old French escren, escrein, escran (modern French écran (“screen")), from Old Dutch *scerm, skirm (“screen"), from Proto-Germanic *skirmiz (“fur, shelter, screen"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut, divide"). Cognate with Dutch scherm (“screen"), German Schirm (“screen").

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English screne from Old North French escren from Middle Dutch scherm shield, screen sker-1 in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Alternate etymology derives Old French escren from Old Dutch *skrank (“barrier") (compare German Schrank (“cupboard"), Schranke (“fence").

    From Wiktionary

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to screen using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

screen