iron curtain
noun
(sometimes initial capital letters) a barrier to understanding and the exchange of information and ideas created by ideological, political, and military hostility of one country toward another, especially such a barrier between the Soviet Union and its allies and other countries.
an impenetrable barrier to communication or information, especially as imposed by rigid censorship and secrecy.
Words nearby iron curtain
iron age, iron blue, iron brick, iron chancellor, iron cross, iron curtain, iron deficiency anemia, iron duke, iron gang, iron gate, iron glance
Origin of iron curtain
used by Winston Churchill in 1946 to describe the line of demarcation between Western Europe and the Soviet zone of influence
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for iron curtain
Iron Curtain
noun
- (formerly) the guarded border between the countries of the Soviet bloc and the rest of Europe
- (as modifier)Iron Curtain countries
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Cultural definitions for iron curtain
Iron Curtain
The former division between the communist nations of eastern Europe — the Eastern Bloc — and the noncommunist nations of western Europe. The term refers to the isolation that the Soviet Union imposed on its satellites in the Eastern Bloc and to the repressive measures of many Eastern Bloc governments. (See Berlin Wall (see also Berlin Wall) and cold war.)
notes for Iron Curtain
The expression Iron Curtain was coined by Winston Churchill, who was prime minister of Britain in World War II. Churchill first used the term soon after the war, when the Soviet Union was beginning to carry out its plans for postwar dominance of eastern Europe.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.