cursus (kersus)

[ML. use of L. cursus, a course: see course1.] Eccles., the stated service The death-white curtain drawn;... Knew that the death-white curtain meant but sleep, Yet I shudder'd and thought like a fool of the sleep of death. Tennyson, Maud, xiv. 4. (c) Hangings used to shut in or screen a bedstead. Ther beddyng watz nolde, Of cortynes of clene sylk, wyth cler golde hemmez. Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. S.), L. 854. Even such a man, so faint, so spiritle ,... Drew Priam's curtain in the dead of night, And would have told him half his Troy was burn'd. Shak., 2 Hen. IV., i. 1. Hence-2. Whatever covers or conceals like a curtain or hangings. The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: The Century dictionary IMG:content-1856.png:[blocks in formation] 4. In fort., that part of a rampart which is between the flanks of two bastions or between two towers or gates, and bordered with a parapet, behind which the soldiers stand to fire on the covered way and into the moat. See cuts under bastion and crown -work. A rowling Towr against the Town doth rear, And on the top (or highest stage) of it A flying Bridge, to reach the Court in fit, With pullies, poles. Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Decay. 51. An ensign or flag. Their ragged curtains poorly are let loose, And our air shakes them pa ing scornfully. Shak., Hen. V., iv. 2. 6. In mycology, same as cortina.-7. A plate in a lock designed to fall over the keyhole as a mask to prevent tampering with the lock.-8. The leaden plate which divides into compartments the large leaden chamber in which sul 1409 Why hast thou marr'd my sword? The pummel's well, the blade is curtal short. Greene, Orlando Furioso. In fruit-time, we had some soure cherries,... halfe a pound of figges, and now and then a whole pound, according to the number of those that sate at table, but in that minced and curtall manner that there was none of us so nimble-finger'd that wee could come to vye it the second Mabbe , The Rogue (ed. 1623), ii. 274. time. Matters of this moment, as they were not to be decided there by those Divines, so neither are they to be determin'd heer by E ays and curtal Aphorism a, but by solid proofs of Scripture. Milton, Eikon ok las tes, xiiii. Curtal dog (also written by corruption curtail dog ), a dog whose tail was cut off, according to the old English forest-laws, to signify that its owner was hindered from coursing; in later usage, a common dog not meant for sport; a dog that has mi ed his game. My curtal dog , that wont to have play'd, Plays not at all, but seems afraid. Shak., Pa ionate Pilgrim, xviii. 29. The curtall dogs , so taught they were, They kept the arrows in their mouth. Robin Hood and the Curtall Fryer (Child's Ballads, V. 277). Curtal friar, apparently, a friar wearing a short gown or habit. Robin Hood lighted off his horse, And tyed him to a thorne; Carry me over the water, thou curtall fryer, Or else thy life's forlorn. Robin Hood and the Curtall Fryer (Child's Ballads, V. 273). Who hath seen our chaplain? Where is our curtal - friar ? Scott , Ivanhoe, xxxii. II. n. 1. A horse or dog with a docked tail: curvature til, a courtyard, Here Mr. Licentiat shew'd his art; and hath so curtly, Gayton, Notes on Don Quixote, iv. 15. succinctly, and concisely epitomiz'd the long story of the IMG:content-1857.png:[blocks in formation] phurous compounds ordinary proce of manufacture. - Behind the curtain, in concealment; in secret. Complement of the curtain. See comple ment. The curtain falls, the scene closes; the play comes to an end. Truly and beautifully has Scott said of Swift, "the stage darkened ere the curtain fell." Chambers's Encyc. of Lit. The curtain rises, the play or scene opens. - To draw the curtain, to close it by drawing its parts together; hence, to conceal an object; refrain from exhibiting, describing, or descanting on something: as, we draw the curtain over his failings. - To drop the curtain, to close the scene; end. To raise the curtain, to open the play or scene; disclose something.