curfew

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After the crowds thinned out, a curfew was announced from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m.

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A regulation requiring certain or all people to leave the streets or be at home at a prescribed hour.
  2. noun The time at which such a restriction begins or is in effect: a 10 P.M. curfew for all residents.
  3. noun The signal, such as a bell, announcing the beginning of this restriction.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (45)

  • The report found RAMSI and the Solomons police showed "dedication, patience and self-control", which helped to prevent loss of life, but failed to call a curfew or actively respond. —  The Advertiser
  • Garner asked the council to continue the curfew for six more months to provide better data about how the curfew is affecting youth crime in Greeley, after Councilwoman Pam Shaddock and Councilman Ed Phillipsen asked for data on whether children are in the act of a crime when they're contacted by police on the street. —  Greeley Tribune - Top Stories
  • Garner promised to provide the council with data over six months to show how the curfew is affecting youth crime in Greeley. —  Greeley Tribune - Top Stories
  • A security official told AFP that the military offensive had been expanded from the town of Jamrud, the gateway to the Khyber Pass, into the neighbouring town of Landi Kotal, where a curfew has been imposed. —  Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
  • In a ten-point curfew, a ban on alcohol sales and a stoppage of all private media. —  Iranian doxdo (www.doxdo.com)
 

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English curfeu, from Old French cuevrefeu : covrir, to cover; see cover + feu, fire (from Latin focus, hearth).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Early modern English also curfeu, courefewe, and corruptly curfle; from Middle English curfewe, courfew, courfewe, courefeu, curfu, corfu, sometimes with final r, curfur, corfour (Scots curfure), from Old French courfeu, corfeu, and more corruptly carrefeu, cerrefeu, carfou (French dial. carfou), contr. from cuevrefu, coevrefeu, covrefeu, later couvrefeu, curfew, literally ‘cover-fire' (cf. the equivalent Middle Latin ignitegium or pyritegium, from Latin ignis or Greek πν=ρ, fire, + Latin tegere, cover), from Old French covrir, French couvrir, cover, + feu, fire, from Latin focus, a hearth: see cover and focus, fuel.
 

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/ˈkərfju/
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