SCREEN, n. [L. cerno, excerno, Gr. to separate, to sift, to judge, to fight, contend skirmish. The primary sense of the root is to separate, to drive or force asunder, hence to sift, to discern, to judge, to separate or cut off danger.] 1. Any thing that separates or cuts off inconvenience, injury or danger,; and hence, that which shelters or protects from danger, or prevents inconvenience. Thus a screen is used to intercept the sight, to intercept the heat of fire on the light of a candle.Some ambitious men seem as screens to princes in matters of danger and envy.2. A riddle or sieve.SCREEN, v.t. 1. To separate or cut off from inconvenience, injury or danger; to shelter; to protect; to protect by hiding; to conceal; as fruits screened from cold winds by a forest or hill. Our houses and garments screen us from cold; an umbrella screens us from rain and the sun's rays. Neither rank nor money should screen from punishment the man who violates the laws.2. To sift or riddle; to separate the coarse part of any thing from the fine, or the worthless from the valuable.
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