curtain (redirected from curtaining)

curtain something off

to separate something or some place with a drape, screen, or curtain. We curtained this part of the room off, so please sleep over there. We will curtain off part of the room.

curtains for someone or something

the death, end, or ruin of someone or something. (From the lowering or closing of the curtains at the end of a stage performance.) If the car hadn't swerved, it would have been curtains for the pedestrians. If they can't get into the export market, it's curtains for the whole company.

ring the curtain down (on something) and bring the curtain down (on something)

1. Fig. to lower a theater curtain, usually at the end of an act or a play. (More literal than .) After one hundred performances, it's time to ring the curtain down on our show for the last time. As we bring down the curtain on another successful performance, let's be thankful nothing serious went wrong.

2. Fig. to bring something to an end; to declare something to be at an end. It's time to ring the curtain down on our relationship. We have nothing in common anymore. We've tried our best to make this company a success, but it's time to ring down the curtain.

See also: ring

ring the curtain up 

1. Fig. to raise the curtain in a theater. (Alludes to sending the signal to raise the curtain.) The stagehand rang the curtain up precisely on time. Let's ring up the curtain. It's time to start the show.

2. Fig. to start a series of activities or events. I am set to ring up the curtain on a new lifestyle. It's a little late to ring up the curtain for anew career.

See also: ring, up

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it's curtains  (informal)

something that you say when you believe something will end or someone will have to stop doing something (usually + for ) If audience figures don't improve, it's curtains for DJ Mike Hamilton.

the curtain comes down on something   also the curtain falls on something

if the curtain comes down on something, especially a period of time, it ends

Usage notes: In a theatre the large curtains above the stage are brought down at the end of a performance.

Last night, the curtain came down on 14 years of Tory rule.

See also: come

the final curtain

the end of something, usually something that has lasted for a long time As the final curtain fell on the longest match in tennis history, Agassi emerged victorious.

See another nail in the coffin, the final straw, have the final word

See also: final

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the curtain falls (on something) also somebody/something rings down the curtain on something

the end comes to something, esp. a job or activity Brown managed to get a lot done before the curtain fell on his political career. This year rings down the curtain on more than 50 years of broadcasts.

Usage notes: also used in the phrase the final curtain falls: His admirers want to honor the singer before the final curtain falls on his career.

Etymology: from the large curtains above the stage in a theater that are brought down at the end of a performance

See also: fall