Chapter Cursed to Cushat of C by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

4. A flag; an ensign; — in contempt. [Obs.] Shak.

Behind the curtain, in concealment; in secret. — Curtain lecture, a querulous lecture given by a wife to her husband within the bed curtains, or in bed. Jerrold.

A curtain lecture is worth all the sermons in the world for teaching the virtues of patience and long- suffering.
W. Irving.

—

The curtain falls, the performance closes. — The curtain rises, the performance begins. — To draw the curtain, to close it over an object, or to remove it; hence: (a) To hide or to disclose an object. (b) To commence or close a performance. — To drop the curtain, to end the tale, or close the performance.

Curtain
(Cur"tain), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Curtained (-t?nd; 48); p. pr. & vb. n. Curtaining.] To inclose as with curtains; to furnish with curtains.

So when the sun in bed
Curtained with cloudy red.
Milton.

Curtal
(Cur"tal) a. [OF. courtault, F. courtaud, having a docked tail (cf. It. cortaldo), fr. court short, L. curtus. See Curt, and Curtail.] Curt; brief; laconic.

Essays and curtal aphorisms.
Milton.

Curtal dog. See Curtail dog.

Curtal
(Cur"tal), n. A horse with a docked tail; hence, anything cut short. [Obs] Nares.

Curtal ax
(Cur"tal ax` Cur"tle ax`), Curtelasse
(Curte"lasse) (k?rt"las). A corruption of Cutlass.

Curtal friar
(Cur"tal fri`ar) A friar who acted as porter at the gate of a monastery. Sir W. Scott.

Curtana
(Cur*ta"na) n. The pointless sword carried before English monarchs at their coronation, and emblematically considered as the sword of mercy; — also called the sword of Edward the Confessor.

Curtate
(Cur"tate) a. [L. curtatus, p. p. of curtare to shorten, fr. curtus. See Curt.] (Astron.) Shortened or reduced; — said of the distance of a planet from the sun or earth, as measured in the plane of the ecliptic, or the distance from the sun or earth to that point where a perpendicular, let fall from the planet upon the plane of the ecliptic, meets the ecliptic.

Curtate cycloid. (Math.) See Cycloid.

Curtation
(Cur*ta"tion) n. (Astron.) The interval by which the curtate distance of a planet is less than the true distance.

Curtein
(Cur*tein") n. Same as Curtana.

Curtes
(Cur*tes") a. Courteous. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Curtesy
(Cur"te*sy) n.; pl. Curtesies [Either fr. courlesy, the lands being held as it were by favor; or fr. court the husband being regarded as holding the lands as a vassal of the court. See Court, Courtesy.] (Law) the life estate which a husband has in the lands of his deceased wife, which by the common law takes effect where he has had issue by her, born alive, and capable of inheriting the lands. Mozley & W.