iron curtain
2
6.8
- noun
- /ˈaɪərn ˈkɜrtən/
- Literature
:
telón de acero
- An iron curtain ran through Eastern Europe from the Baltic to the Mediterranean.
I visited behind the Iron Curtain back when I was a teenager.
- I visited behind the Iron Curtain back when I was a teenager.
- Now, in some sense, that was a narrative that on both sides of the Iron Curtain was very deeply felt.
- And when, when the Iron Curtain came down, we had a head start against anybody else.
- Mark Headley, blown for good behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology.
- And I think that it's a problem if Russia overtakes Ukraine and and now we set up some some form of a worse Iron Curtain again.
Examples
-
After more than 40 years, the iron curtain collapsed with such dizzying speed between June 1989 and January 1990 that the West became caught up in the euphoria sweeping the East.
Academic text (1991) -
I visited behind the Iron Curtain back when I was a teenager.
-
And when, when the Iron Curtain came down, we had a head start against anybody else.
-
Yes, of course, in Behind the Iron Curtain, the will of the people was not what the East German government wanted.
-
How did she get behind the iron curtain?
-
Eastern Europe is no longer sealed off by an iron curtain.
Academic text (1992) -
An iron curtain has descended over the fate of these people, and very likely conditions are truly terrible.
Academic text (2003) -
A so-called Iron Curtain divided Europe between communist East and capitalist West.
-
Germans are particularly grateful to Hungary for opening its portion of the iron curtain in the spring of 1989, sparking an East German exodus that eventually culminated in the demise of the communist regime in East Berlin.
Academic text (1991) -
The iron curtain symbolized the division between the communist East and democratic West during the Cold War.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A line that separates two countries or regions
503
5.1
A situation that stops progress or makes it hard to continue
112
6.1
A layer that blocks sight or hides information
1
8.9
A rule to keep people in different teams from sharing secret information to avoid conflicts of interest
A barrier that kept China separate from other countries, stopping travel, news, and contact
Antonyms
How Closed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'iron' (strong, impenetrable) with 'curtain' (a screen or barrier), so a learner who knows both words can infer a figurative impenetrable barrier. However, the conventionalized Cold War geopolitical meaning and the specific historical/political reference are not fully predictable from the parts and require cultural knowledge, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Iron curtain uses iron (hard metal) and curtain (a cloth that closes) to give the picture of a heavy, locked curtain cutting off a whole area. Winston Churchill used it for Soviet control of Eastern Europe, and that's why it now means 'a strong barrier' that 'stops' people and information from passing through.