Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

curtain lecture

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.68 in modern English

Syllables: cur-tain lec-ture
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

14

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A scolding given by a wife to her husband in bed.

Example Sentences

"I have pawn'd already her Tuftaffaty Peticote and all her Child-bed linnen, besides two tiffiny Aprons, and her bearing-cloth, for which I have had already two curtaine Lectures, and a black and blue eye."
"I still prevailed, and would be in the right, / Or curtain lectures made a restless night."
"A curtain lecture is worth all the sermons in the world for teaching the virtues of patience and long-suffering."
"Yes, she may toss her head and hector, / But she shall have a curtain lecture ..."
"... in a curtain lecture, I say, Mrs. Sedley took her husband to task for his cruel conduct to poor Joe."
"Before she went, she gave Robert several curtain lectures; but he had little time for her and avoided her."

Etymology

An allusion to the curtains that hung around old-fashioned beds.

Inflected Forms

curtain lectures (plural)

Questions

What does curtain lecture mean?: A scolding given by a wife to her husband in bed.
Where does curtain lecture come from?: An allusion to the curtains that hung around old-fashioned beds.

How to pronounce curtain lecture

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