Screen (skrēn), 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.
Your leavy screens throw down. Shak.
Some ambitious men seem as screens to princes in matters of danger and envy. Bacon.
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.
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.
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.