curfew
/ˈkɝ.fju/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.37 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A regulation requiring loud or disruptive activities such as concerts and sporting events to end by a certain time.
noun
The time when such restriction begins.
noun
Example Sentences
- "The city has been reported calm after a curfew was imposed."
- "Curfews have been curbing / The end of liberty"
- "Localities across New Jersey imposed curfews to prevent looting. In Monmouth, Ocean and other counties, people waited for hours for gasoline at the few stations that had electricity. Supermarket shelves were stripped bare."
- "The curfew was introduced in 2009, when the All England Club installed a retractable roof on Centre Court. That meant that play could go on later at a tournament that previously ran to the sun’s clock, but local residents — and their council — did not want fans streaming past their houses in the early hours."
- "I have my lodging neere unto a tower, where both evening and morning a very great bell doth chime Ave marie and Cover-few, which jangling doth even make the tower to shake […]."
Etymology
From Middle English curfu, from Old French cuevre-fu (French couvre-feu), from the imperative of covrir (“to cover”) + fu (“fire”). Compare kerchief.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: curfu, cuevre-fu
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɝ.fju/
- British English: /ˈkɜː.fjuː/