screen
Americannoun
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screens
plural
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a movable or fixed device, usually consisting of a covered frame, that provides shelter, serves as a partition, etc.
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a permanent, usually ornamental partition, as around the choir of a church or across the hall of a medieval house.
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a specially prepared, light-reflecting surface on which motion pictures, slides, etc., may be projected.
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Electronics. a surface on which electronically created images or text are displayed, as on a television, computer, mobile device, or radar receiver.
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Digital Technology. frame.
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motion pictures collectively or the motion-picture industry.
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anything that shelters, protects, or conceals.
a screen of secrecy; A screen of fog prevented our seeing the ship.
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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.
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a sieve, riddle, or other meshlike device used to separate smaller particles or objects from larger ones, as for grain or sand.
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a system for screening or grouping people, objects, etc.
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Military. a body of troops sent out to protect the movement of an army.
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Navy. a protective formation of small vessels, as destroyers, around or in front of a larger ship or ships.
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Physics. a shield designed to prevent interference between various agencies.
electric screen.
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Electronics. screen grid.
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Photography. a plate of ground glass or the like on which the image is brought into focus in a camera before being photographed.
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Photoengraving. a transparent plate containing two sets of fine parallel lines, one crossing the other, used in the halftone process.
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Sports.
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any of various offensive plays in which teammates form a protective formation around the ball carrier, pass receiver, shooter, etc.
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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.
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verb (used with object)
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screens,
present (3rd person singular)
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screened,
past participle, past
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screening
present participle
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to shelter, protect, or conceal with or as if with a screen.
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to select, reject, consider, or group (people, objects, ideas, etc.) by examining systematically.
Job applicants were screened by the personnel department.
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to provide with a screen or screens to exclude insects.
He screened the porch so they could enjoy sitting out on summer evenings.
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to sift or sort by passing through a screen.
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to project (a motion picture, slide, etc.) on a screen.
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Movies.
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to show (a motion picture), especially to an invited audience, as of exhibitors and critics.
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to photograph with a motion-picture camera; film.
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to adapt (a story, play, etc.) for presentation as a motion picture.
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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)
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screens,
present (3rd person singular)
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screened,
past participle, past
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screening
present participle
noun
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a light movable frame, panel, or partition serving to shelter, divide, hide, etc
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anything that serves to shelter, protect, or conceal
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a frame containing a mesh that is placed over a window or opening to keep out insects
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a decorated partition, esp in a church around the choir See also rood
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a sieve
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a system for selecting people, such as candidates for a job
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the wide end of a cathode-ray tube, esp in a television set, on which a visible image is formed
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a white or silvered surface, usually fabric, placed in front of a projector to receive the enlarged image of a film or of slides
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the film industry or films collectively
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photog a plate of ground glass in some types of camera on which the image of a subject is focused before being photographed
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printing a glass marked with fine intersecting lines, used in a camera for making half-tone reproductions
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men or ships deployed around and ahead of a larger military formation to warn of attack or protect from a specific threat
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sport a tactical ploy in which a player blocks an opponent's view
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psychoanal anything that prevents a person from realizing his true feelings about someone or something
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electronics See screen grid
verb
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(sometimes foll by off) to shelter, protect, or conceal
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to sieve or sort
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to test or check (an individual or group) so as to determine suitability for a task, etc
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to examine for the presence of a disease, weapons, etc
the authorities screened five hundred cholera suspects
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to provide with a screen or screens
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to project (a film) onto a screen, esp for public viewing
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(intr) to be shown at a cinema or on the television
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printing to photograph (a picture) through a screen to render it suitable for half-tone reproduction
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sport to block the view of (an opposing player)
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The surface on which an image is displayed, as on a television, computer monitor, or radar receiver.
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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.
Synonym Usage
See cover.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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screenernoun
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screenfulnoun
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superscreennoun
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rescreenverb (used with object)
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screenableadjective
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screenlessadjective
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screenlikeadjective
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unscreenableadjective
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unscreenedadjective
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well-screenedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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screensimple
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screenssimple
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have screenedperfect
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has screenedperfect
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am screeningprogressive
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are screeningprogressive
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is screeningprogressive
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have been screeningperfect progressive
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has been screeningperfect progressive
Past
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screenedsimple
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had screenedperfect
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was screeningprogressive
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were screeningprogressive
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had been screeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Every time the reminder flashes up on my screen, I have to think: “Would I have moved that money if not for the notification?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
“You are who your friends are,” reads the text at the bottom of the screen.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026
Senior valuer Jenny Low said: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own an item of clothing designed for and worn by screen icon Brigitte Bardot."
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
In England, though, the likes of Judi Dench, Maggie Smith or Glenda Jackson had always navigated effortlessly between the big and small screen and the stage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
“Very good, Cadet Fitz,” Treebaun said almost reluctantly, turning back to the screen.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
As the hulking antenna swivels into action, screens inside the control room light up with the names of objects the radar system detects: stars, satellites and abandoned rocket bodies.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
The refrain reflects a message the band has long pushed: that fans should stop watching concerts through six-inch screens and engage with their performances in real life.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Santa Monica put screens on every block of the Third Street Promenade for World Cup watch parties where patrons were allowed to carry alcoholic beverages within a specific area of the open-air mall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
“All of them were worth it” when it came to the screens, but his local theater had uncomfortable and outdated seats that hurt his experience.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
All the window screens blink, and my grandmother, the president, appears on them.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Inside, they’re screened by TSA and customs officials, far from the teeming lines of the main airport.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
However, as Flavio Bolsonaro officially launched his candidacy on Saturday, a deepfake video of his father was screened at the Liberal Party convention.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
So you’ve done your research and screened the job listings.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced that all military personnel aged 30 and over will be screened for testosterone deficiency as part of their annual health checks.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
We loaded two cars and drove down the road that was screened with wet mats and the last of the sun came through in the breaks between the strips of mattings.
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
Maybe I’m loopy, but I’d even swear the entrance to Billy’s screening room has a handmade mural of the Roku City screensaver.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The screening process can also include poring over artists’ social media, according to Julie Coulter, the owner of J. Coulter & Co.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
NHS criteria for screening women under 50 for breast cancer are too narrow and missing up to 95% of those at higher risk of developing the disease, researchers have warned.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
The report shares examples of AI applications in governance, such as to increase diabetes screening volumes in Bangladesh, or in reducing costs for Indian farmers through advanced weather forecasts.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
I was “randomly selected” for an enhanced screening after that, even though my messenger bag had nothing liquid, gel, or aerosol in it.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
