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Curfew
//ˈkɜː.fjuː// noun
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any regulation requiring people to be off the streets and in their homes by a certain time.
"Curfews have been curbing / The end of liberty"
- 2 an order that after a specific time certain activities (as being outside on the streets) are prohibited wordnet
- 3 The time when such restriction begins.
- 4 a signal (usually a bell) announcing the start of curfew restrictions wordnet
- 5 A signal indicating this time.
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- 6 the time that the curfew signal is sounded wordnet
- 7 A fireplace accessory designed to bank a fire by completely covering the embers.
- 8 A regulation in feudal Europe by which fires had to be covered up or put out at a certain fixed time in the evening, marked by the ringing of an evening bell. historical
- 9 The evening bell, which continued to be rung in many towns after the regulation itself became obsolete.
"I have my lodging neere unto a tower, where both evening and morning a very great bell doth chime Ave marie and Cover-few, which jangling doth even make the tower to shake […]."
Etymology
From Middle English curfu, from Old French cuevre-fu (French couvre-feu), from the imperative of covrir (“to cover”) + fu (“fire”). Compare kerchief.
See also for "curfew"
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