drop curtain

a curtain that is lowered into position from the flies.

Origin of drop curtain

First recorded in 1825–35

Just as the drop-curtain had reached half-way in its descent, a sudden burst of flame was seen to issue from one of the wings.

An Ambitious Woman |Edgar Fawcett
Under a sky as blue and amid nature poetical as a drop-curtain, one's moral nature dozes.

Memoirs of My Dead Life |George Moore
The drop-curtain was supposed to go up and reveal the twenty dogs seated on chairs in a semi-circle.

Michael, Brother of Jerry |Jack London
Since there was no drop-curtain, actors had some distance to traverse, on entrances and exits, between the doors and the front.

The Facts About Shakespeare |William Allan Nielson

The falling water was like a drop-curtain, swept across the stage of the open tract of sawdust.

Nan Sherwood at Pine Camp |Annie Roe Carr

drop curtain

theatre a curtain that is suspended from the flies and can be raised and lowered onto the stage Also called: drop cloth, drop