curtain lecture

American  

noun

1. Older Use. a scolding administered in private by a wife to her husband.

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curtain lecture British  

noun

1. a scolding or rebuke given in private, esp by a wife to her husband

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Etymology

Origin of curtain lecture

First recorded in 1625–35

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

curtain lecture

I committed to memory a curtain lecture for my brother, though somehow or other it escaped me and was never delivered.

From The Outlet by Andy Adams

Have been lull'd into sleep by a good curtain lecture.

From Lover's Vows by Mrs. Inchbald

There was the menace of a curtain lecture in her face.

From The Mermaid of Druid Lake and Other Stories by Charles Weathers Bump

Then he added aloud, "A hurried journey on business, we will call it, a sudden journey on business, preceded by a little curtain lecture."

From Gertrude's Marriage by W. Heimburg

‘You gave him a curtain lecture, did you?’

From The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë