curtain wall


noun
  1. (in a framed building) an exterior wall having no structural function.

Origin of curtain wall

1
First recorded in 1850–55

Words Nearby curtain wall

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use curtain wall in a sentence

  • They reached the foot of the rampart, and by the stairway of a tower that was left unguarded, they mounted onto the curtain-wall.

  • Already the ditches are deep, the curtain wall of hawthorn high and impenetrable, the approaches narrow.

    Wood Magic | Richard Jefferies
  • Part of the curtain wall was completely reversed by the force of the explosive and now shows its inner face.

    Wanderings in Wessex | Edric Holmes
  • The porter's lodge and curtain-wall enclosing Hulne Priory still stand, and its outline can be traced, though the ruins are scant.

  • Come and see the curtain-wall or whatever it is in the cellars of the Htel de la Poste.

    The Tower of Oblivion | Oliver Onions

British Dictionary definitions for curtain wall

curtain wall

noun
  1. a non-load-bearing external wall attached to a framed structure, often one that is prefabricated

  2. a low wall outside the outer wall of a castle, serving as a first line of defence

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