screen

n. [ OE. scren, OF. escrein, escran, F. écran, of uncertain origin; cf. G. schirm a screen, OHG. scirm, scerm a protection, shield, or G. schragen a trestle, a stack of wood, or G. schranne a railing. ] 1. Anything that separates or cuts off inconvenience, injury, or danger; that which shelters or conceals from view; a shield or protection; as, a fire screen. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your leavy screens throw down. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some ambitious men seem as screens to princes in matters of danger and envy. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Cricket) An erection of white canvas or wood placed on the boundary opposite a batsman to enable him to see ball better. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

6. a netting, usu. of metal, contained in a frame, used mostly in windows or doors to allow in fresh air while excluding insects. --
Screen door, a door of which half or more is composed of a screen. --
Screen window, a screen inside a frame, fitted for insertion into a window frame. [ PJC ]

7. 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. [ PJC ]

8. The motion-picture industry; motion pictures. “A star of stage and screen.” [ PJC ]