curtain raiser

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR curtain raiser ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a short play preceding a main play.

any preliminary event or performance.

Nearby words

curtailment, curtain, curtain call, curtain lecture, curtain line, curtain raiser, curtain shutter, curtain speech, curtain time, curtain wall, curtain-raiser

Origin of curtain raiser

First recorded in 1885–90

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for curtain-raiser

This, to be sure, is only the curtain-raiser to the pleasures to follow.
Pipefuls|Christopher Morley
The curtain-raiser was over, and very nice too; now for the drama.
If Winter Comes|A.S.M. Hutchinson
On the first night performance of "The Alcade," she played in a curtain-raiser, "Bertram."
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z|Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
But if you don't know how easy it is, it looks like a curtain-raiser for manslaughter.
Shorty McCabe|Sewell Ford

He almost wished he had not followed the curtain-raiser with his own stronger drama.
The Big Bow Mystery|I. Zangwill

British Dictionary definitions for curtain-raiser

curtain-raiser

noun

theatre a short dramatic piece presented before the main play

any preliminary eventthe debate was a curtain-raiser to the election

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with curtain-raiser

curtain raiser

Preliminary event, as in This limited attack on the chairman is just a curtain raiser for the concerted effort to oust him. This term literally refers to a short play or skit presented before the main theatrical production. It began to be transferred to other preliminaries about 1940.