screen Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a white or silvered surface where pictures can be projected for viewing
    projection screen; silver screen.
  2. noun a protective covering that keeps things out or hinders sight
    blind.
    • they had just moved in and had not put up blinds yet
  3. noun the display that is electronically created on the surface of the large end of a cathode-ray tube
    CRT screen.
  4. noun a covering that serves to conceal or shelter something
    concealment; covert; cover.
    • a screen of trees afforded privacy
    • under cover of darkness
    • the brush provided a covert for game
    • the simplest concealment is to match perfectly the color of the background
  5. noun a protective covering consisting of netting; can be mounted in a frame
    • they put screens in the windows for protection against insects
    • a metal screen protected the observers
  6. noun the personnel of the film industry
    filmdom; screenland.
    • a star of stage and screen
  7. noun a strainer for separating lumps from powdered material or grading particles
    sieve.
  8. noun a door that consists of a frame holding metallic or plastic netting; used to allow ventilation and to keep insects from entering a building through the open door
    screen door.
    • he heard the screen slam as she left
  9. noun partition consisting of a decorative frame or panel that serves to divide a space
  10. verb test or examine for the presence of disease or infection
    test.
    • screen the blood for the HIV virus
  11. verb examine methodically
    • screen the suitcases
  12. verb examine in order to test suitability
    sort; screen out; sieve.
    • screen these samples
    • screen the job applicants
  13. verb project onto a screen for viewing
    • screen a film
  14. verb prevent from entering
    block out.
    • block out the strong sunlight
  15. verb separate with a riddle, as grain from chaff
    riddle.
  16. verb protect, hide, or conceal from danger or harm
    shield.

WordNet

Screen noun
Etymology
OE. scren, OF. escrein, escran, F. écran, of uncertain origin; cf. G. schirm a screen, OHG. scrim, scern a protection, shield, or G. schragen a trestle, a stack of wood, or G. schranne a railing.
Definitions
  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. (Arch.) 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, 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 allow in fresh air while excluding insects.
  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 tube containing phosphors excited by the electron beam, but other 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."
Screen transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Screened ; present participle & verbal noun Screening
Definitions
  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 cold winds by a forest or hill.
    They were encouraged and screened by some who were in high comands. Macaulay.
  2. To pass, as coal, gravel, ashes, etc., through a screen in order to separate the coarse from the fine, 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 large number of samples, in order to find those having specific desirable properties; as, to screen plant extracts for anticancer agents.

Webster 1913