¦ noun
1. an upright partition used to divide a room, give shelter, or provide concealment.
a windscreen of a motor vehicle.
a frame with fine wire netting used to keep out flying insects.
2. the surface of a cathode ray tube or similar electronic device, especially that of a television, VDU, or monitor, on which images and data are displayed.
a blank surface on which a photographic image is projected.
(the screen) films or television.
Photography a flat piece of ground glass on which the image formed by a camera lens is focused.
3. Printing a transparent finely ruled plate or film used in half-tone reproduction.
4. a system or act of screening for the presence or absence of something.
5. a large sieve or riddle.
6. Military a detachment of troops or ships detailed to cover the movements of the main body.
7. a part of an electrical or other instrument which protects it from or prevents it causing electromagnetic interference.
(also screen grid) Electronics a grid placed between the control grid and the anode of a valve to reduce the capacitance between these electrodes.
¦ verb
1. conceal, protect, or shelter with a screen.
protect from something dangerous or unpleasant.
2. show (a film or video) or broadcast (a television programme).
3. test for the presence or absence of a disease.
investigate (someone), typically to ascertain suitability for a job.
4. pass (a substance such as grain or coal) through a large sieve or riddle, especially so as to sort it into different sizes.
5. Printing project (a photograph or other image) through a screen so as to reproduce it as a half-tone.
Derivatives
screenable adjective
screener noun
screenful noun (plural screenfuls).
screening noun
Origin
ME: shortening of Old North. Fr. escren, of Gmc origin.