screen
see also: Screen
Pronunciation Noun

screen (plural screens)

  1. A physical divider intended to block an area from view, or provide shelter from something dangerous.
    a fire screen
    • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act V, scene vi]:
      Your leavy screens throw down.
    • 1625, Francis Bacon, “Of Ambition”, in The Essayes or Covncils, Civill and Moral, […] Newly Written, London: Printed by Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, OCLC 863521290 ↗; newly enlarged edition, London: Printed by Iohn Haviland, […], 1632, OCLC 863527675 ↗:
      There is also great use of ambitious men in being screens to princes in matters of danger and envy
  2. A material woven from fine wires intended to block animals or large particles from passing while allowing gasses, liquids and finer particles to pass.
    1. (mining, quarrying) A frame supporting a mesh of bars or wires used to classify fragments of stone by size, allowing the passage of fragments whose a diameter is smaller than the distance between the bars or wires.
    2. (baseball) The protective netting which protects the audience from flying objects
      Jones caught the foul up against the screen.
    3. (printing) A stencil upon a framed mesh through which paint is forced onto printed-on material; the frame with the mesh itself.
  3. (by analogy) Searching through a sample for a target; an act of screening
    a drug screen, a genetic screen
    1. (genetics) A technique used to identify genes so as to study gene functions.
  4. Various forms or formats of information display
    1. The viewing surface or area of a movie, or moving picture or slide presentation.
    2. The informational viewing area of electronic devices, where output is displayed.
      • 1977, Sex Pistols, Spunk, “Problems” (song):
        quote en
    3. One of the individual regions of a video game, etc. divided into separate screens.
      • 1988, Marcus Berkmann, Sophistry (video game review) in Your Sinclair issue 30, June 1988
        quote en
      • 1989, Compute (volume 11, page 51)
        quote en
    4. (computer) The visualised data or imagery displayed on a computer screen.
      After you turn on the computer, the login screen appears.
  5. Definitions related to standing in the path of an opposing player
    1. (American football) Short for screen pass#English|screen pass.
    2. (basketball) An offensive tactic in which a player stands so as to block a defender from reaching a teammate.
      Synonyms: pick
  6. (cricket) An erection of white canvas or wood placed on the boundary opposite a batsman to make the ball more easily visible.
  7. (nautical) A collection of less-valuable vessels that travel with a more valuable one for the latter's protection.
  8. (architecture) A dwarf wall or partition carried up to a certain height for separation and protection, as in a church, to separate the aisle from the choir, etc.
  9. (Scotland, archaic) A large scarf.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

screen (screens, present participle screening; past and past participle screened)

  1. To filter by passing through a screen.
    Mary screened the beans to remove the clumps of gravel.
  2. To shelter or conceal.
  3. To remove information, or censor intellectual material from viewing.
    The news report was screened because it accused the politician of wrongdoing.
  4. (film, television) To present publicly (on the screen).
    The news report will be screened at 11:00 tonight.
  5. To fit with a screen.
    We need to screen this porch. These bugs are driving me crazy.
  6. (medicine) To examine patients or treat a sample in order to detect a chemical or a disease, or to assess susceptibility to a disease.
  7. (molecular biology) To search chemical libraries by means of a computational technique in order to identify chemical compounds which would potentially bind to a given biological target such as a protein.
  8. (basketball) To stand so as to block a defender from reaching a teammate.
    Synonyms: pick
  9. To determine the source or subject matter of a call before deciding whether to answer the phone.
    • 1987 April 7, Associated Press (story title as printed in New York Times)
      A Phone to Screen Calls
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
Screen
Proper noun
  1. Surname



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