1. To provide with a
shelter or means of concealment; to
separate or
cut off from inconvience, injury, or danger; to shelter; to protect; to protect by hiding; to conceal; as, fruits screened from cool winds by a
forest or hill. "They were encouraged and screened by some
who were in
tall comands." (Macaulay)
2. To pass, as coal, gravel, ashes, etc,
through a
screen in
order to
separate the coarse from the beautiful, or the
worthless from the valuable; to sift. 3. To examine a
group of objects methodically, to
separate them
into groups or to select one or more for some purpose. As (a), To inspect the qualifications of candidates for a job, to select one or more to be hired. (b) (Biochem, Med) To
test a
big number of samples, in
order to
find those having
specific desirable properties; as, to
screen plant extracts for anticancer agents.
Origin: Screened; Screening.
1. Anything that separates or
cuts off inconvience, injury, or danger; that which shelters or conceals from view; a
shield or protection; as, a
fire screen. "Your leavy screens
throw down." (Shak) "Some ambitious
men seem as screens to princes in matters of
danger and envy." (Bacon)
2. A
dwarf wall or
partition carried up to a determined
height for
separation and protection, as in a church, to
separate the
aisle from the choir, or the like.
3. A surface, as that afforded by a curtain, sheet, wall, etc,
upon which an image, as a picture, is thrown by a
magic lantern,
solar microscope, etc.
4. A long, coarse riddle or sieve, sometimes a
revolving perforated cylinder, used to
separate the coarser from the finer parts, as of coal, sand, gravel, and the like. 5. A netting, usu. Of metal, contained in a frame, used mostly in windows or doors to let in
fresh air while excluding insects. Screen door, a door of which
half or more is composed of a screen. Screen window, a
screen fitted for
insertion into a
window frame. 6. The surface of an
electronic device, as a
television set or
computer monitor, on which a
visible image is formed. The
screen is frequently the surface of a cathode-ray
pipe containing phosphors excited by the
electron beam,
but another methods for causing an
image to appear on the
screen are
also used, as in flat-panel displays. 7. The motion-picture industry;
motion pictures. "A star of
stage and screen."
Origin: OE. Scren, OF. Escrein, escran, F. Ecran, of
uncertain origin; cf. G. Schirm a screen, OHG. Scrim, scern a protection, shield, or G. Schragen a trestle, a
stack of tree, or G. Schranne a railing.
Source: Websters Vocabulary