silver screen

American  

noun

1. motion pictures; the motion-picture industry.

   a star of the silver screen.

2. a special screen on which motion pictures are projected.

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silver screen British  

noun

1. films collectively or the film industry

2. the screen onto which films are projected

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Etymology

Origin of silver screen

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Like many illustrious figures, the cowboy turns out to be a more nuanced individual than the often one-dimensional representations of the silver screen.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026

Comics characters, Mr Fuller agrees, are "all over the culture", whether via silver screen or anime on Netflix.

From BBC • Dec. 13, 2025

For decades, the silver screen primarily featured women working in offices as secretaries or assistants.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 29, 2025

What better way to make the afterlife slightly less terrifying than to see a version of it with our own eyes on the silver screen, whatever that interpretation might resemble.

From Salon • Nov. 27, 2025

I could tell by the way her eyes rolled under her lids she was watching the silver screen where dreams come and go.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd