curtain raiser
noun
a short play preceding a main play.
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curtain raiser
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curtain-raiser
curtain-raisernountheatre a short dramatic piece presented before the main play
curtain raiser
Americannoun
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a short play preceding a main play.
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any preliminary event or performance.
curtain-raiser
British
noun
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theatre a short dramatic piece presented before the main play
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any preliminary event
the debate was a curtain-raiser to the election
curtain raiser
Idioms
Etymology
Origin of curtain raiser
First recorded in 1885–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
After the women opened the season on Saturday with their giant slalom on the Austrian glacier, the men battled poor visibility and welcome wintry weather in their traditional curtain raiser.
From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2025
It was a personal and at times touching five minute curtain raiser for the main event.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2023
Today is something of a curtain raiser for the U.S.
From New York Times ● May 29, 2023
It’s an apt curtain raiser for a 1994-95 season in which newness and sameness glom together indistinguishably, but “thirtysomething” glistened from its inception with a seductive uniqueness that this latest series does not initially share.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2022
It had placed Archie at a disadvantage for the first time as assigner because Rollo had only been the curtain raiser, a bit of amusement Obie had arranged to enliven the proceedings.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
Now a thrilling century in a tournament curtain-raiser.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
On Tuesday a protest blocked an avenue leading to the Estadio Azteca, where Mexico will face South Africa in the curtain-raiser.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
The second season served as a curtain-raiser for Kaitlyn Dever and her character, Abby.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
WASHINGTON—Few things that happened onstage at the Kennedy Center on Friday afternoon could have overshadowed the official curtain-raiser for the world’s largest sporting event.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
A lugubrious bell sounded, and the mournful voice of the call-boy was heard in the corridors: "The curtain-raiser is over!"
From A Mummer's Tale by Roche, Charles E.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
