screen

[ skreen ]

/ skrin /

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See synonyms for: screen / screened / screening on Thesaurus.com

noun

a movable or fixed device, usually consisting of a covered frame, that provides shelter, serves as a partition, etc.

a permanent, usually ornamental partition, as around the choir of a church or across the hall of a medieval house.

a specially prepared, light-reflecting surface on which motion pictures, slides, etc., may be projected.

Electronics. a surface on which electronically created images or text are displayed, as on a television, computer, mobile device, or radar receiver.

Digital Technology. frame (def. 9).

motion pictures collectively or the motion-picture industry.

anything that shelters, protects, or conceals: a screen of secrecy; A screen of fog prevented our seeing the ship.

a frame holding a mesh of wire, cloth, or plastic, for placing in a window or doorway, around a porch, etc., to admit air but exclude insects.

a sieve, riddle, or other meshlike device used to separate smaller particles or objects from larger ones, as for grain or sand.

a system for screening or grouping people, objects, etc.

Military. a body of troops sent out to protect the movement of an army.

Navy. a protective formation of small vessels, as destroyers, around or in front of a larger ship or ships.

Physics. a shield designed to prevent interference between various agencies:electric screen.

Electronics. screen grid.

Photography. a plate of ground glass or the like on which the image is brought into focus in a camera before being photographed.

Photoengraving. a transparent plate containing two sets of fine parallel lines, one crossing the other, used in the halftone process.

Sports.

any of various offensive plays in which teammates form a protective formation around the ball carrier, pass receiver, shooter, etc.
any of various defensive plays in which teammates conceal or block an opposing ball carrier, pass receiver, shooter, or the goal, basket, net, etc., itself.

verb (used with object)

to shelter, protect, or conceal with or as if with a screen.

to select, reject, consider, or group (people, objects, ideas, etc.) by examining systematically: Job applicants were screened by the personnel department.

to provide with a screen or screens to exclude insects: He screened the porch so they could enjoy sitting out on summer evenings.

to sift or sort by passing through a screen.

to project (a motion picture, slide, etc.) on a screen.

Movies.

to show (a motion picture), especially to an invited audience, as of exhibitors and critics.
to photograph with a motion-picture camera; film.
to adapt (a story, play, etc.) for presentation as a motion picture.

to lighten (type or areas of a line engraving) by etching a regular pattern of dots or lines into the printing surface.

verb (used without object)

to be projected on a motion-picture screen.

OTHER WORDS FOR screen

7 guard, shield.

18 veil, defend, shield, hide, mask.

See synonyms for screen on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of screen

1350–1400; Middle English screne (noun) <Anglo-French; Old French escren (French écran) <Frankish *skrank, cognate with Old High German scrank barrier (German Schrank cupboard)

synonym study for screen

7. See cover.

OTHER WORDS FROM screen

screen·a·ble, adjectivescreener, nounscreenless, adjectivescreenlike, adjective

re·screen, verb (used with object)su·per·screen, noun, adjectiveun·screen·a·ble, adjectiveun·screened, adjectivewell-screened, adjective

Words nearby screen

screech, screeching, screech owl, screechy, screed, screen, Screen Actors Guild, screenager, screen dump, screen grid, screenie

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

How to use screen in a sentence

The video shows the back screen keeping up with the front screen as the user navigates around in a few apps.
New Xiaomi smartphone has an extra screen in… uh, the camera bump?|Ron Amadeo|February 12, 2021|Ars Technica
A team member put the cup onto the display screen lying on the table and a concept was born.
Ford’s electric Mustang Mach-E is an important leap into the future|Dan Carney|February 12, 2021|Popular-Science
On screen, an elevator can force people to get close or, when the doors open, to separate suddenly.
What floor?|Sophia Nguyen|February 12, 2021|Washington Post
I posted screen shots of this over here, here is how they compare.
Google Search dark theme mode expands but search ads are hard to distinguish|Barry Schwartz|February 11, 2021|Search Engine Land

More than ever, the little screen is where things are happening.
The loneliness of an interrupted adolescence|Ellen McCarthy|February 11, 2021|Washington Post
The garrulous assistant to a fading screen siren in Clouds of Sils Maria.
Oscars 2015: The Daily Beast’s Picks, From Scarlett Johansson to ‘Boyhood’|Marlow Stern|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“JSwipe is currently under heavy load,” flashed across the screen, one night as a friend and I looked at it.
My Week on Jewish Tinder|Emily Shire|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A sad-faced orange Star of David flashed across the iPhone screen as we swiped left on “James” (not his real name).
My Week on Jewish Tinder|Emily Shire|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Her name was Courtney, and she was a fashion editor for magazines like Photoplay, Screenland, Silver Screen.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A more rugged version of American masculinity is hard to find on screen.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Among the Perpendicular additions to the church last named may be noted a very beautiful oaken rood-screen.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 4|Various
The fire had been heaped over with earth—to screen it from prying eyes, I suppose, while the good work went on.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
Now, he chose a small table in a corner of the balcony, close to the glass screen.
Rosemary in Search of a Father|C. N. Williamson
According to a weekly paper not only is Constance Binney a famous screen star, but she is also a first-class ukelele player.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 158, April 28, 1920|Various
It was ten minutes before she raised her hand and pointed to a wilted but still effective screen.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton

British Dictionary definitions for screen

screen

/ (skriːn) /

noun

a light movable frame, panel, or partition serving to shelter, divide, hide, etc

anything that serves to shelter, protect, or conceal

a frame containing a mesh that is placed over a window or opening to keep out insects

a decorated partition, esp in a church around the choirSee also rood (def. 1)

a sieve

a system for selecting people, such as candidates for a job

the wide end of a cathode-ray tube, esp in a television set, on which a visible image is formed

a white or silvered surface, usually fabric, placed in front of a projector to receive the enlarged image of a film or of slides

the screen the film industry or films collectively

photog a plate of ground glass in some types of camera on which the image of a subject is focused before being photographed

printing a glass marked with fine intersecting lines, used in a camera for making half-tone reproductions

men or ships deployed around and ahead of a larger military formation to warn of attack or protect from a specific threat

sport, mainly US and Canadian a tactical ploy in which a player blocks an opponent's view

psychoanal anything that prevents a person from realizing his true feelings about someone or something

electronics See screen grid

verb (tr)

(sometimes foll by off) to shelter, protect, or conceal

to sieve or sort

to test or check (an individual or group) so as to determine suitability for a task, etc

to examine for the presence of a disease, weapons, etcthe authorities screened five hundred cholera suspects

to provide with a screen or screens

to project (a film) onto a screen, esp for public viewing

(intr) to be shown at a cinema or on the television

printing to photograph (a picture) through a screen to render it suitable for half-tone reproduction

sport, mainly US and Canadian to block the view of (an opposing player)

Derived forms of screen

screenable, adjectivescreener, nounscreenful, nounscreenlike, adjective

Word Origin for screen

C15: from Old French escren (French écran); related to Old High German skrank, German Schrank cupboard

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

Scientific definitions for screen

screen

[ skrēn ]

The surface on which an image is displayed, as on a television, computer monitor, or radar receiver.

An electrode placed between the plate (anode) and the control grid in a tetrode valve, used to reduce the capacitance between the grid and the plate, increasing its ability to respond to high frequencies, especially radio frequencies.

screen

OTHER WORDS FOR screen

Origin of screen

synonym study for screen

OTHER WORDS FROM screen

Words nearby screen

Words related to screen

How to use screen in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for screen

Derived forms of screen

Word Origin for screen

Scientific definitions for screen