curtain-raiser

noun

cur·​tain-rais·​er ˈkər-tᵊn-ˌrā-zər How to pronounce curtain-raiser (audio)
1
: a short play usually of one scene that is presented before the main full-length drama
2
: a usually short preliminary to a main event

Examples of curtain-raiser in a Sentence

the opening of the performing arts center proved to be a curtain-raiser for the rebirth of the city's downtown
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Neither outfit managed to find the back of the net in their curtain-raiser and collide at the London Stadium, aiming to finally get off the mark. Kilty Cleary, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Aug. 2025 In the past 14 years, only once has the winner of the traditional season curtain-raiser gone on to lift the Premier League title (Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side, who pipped Liverpool by a solitary point in 2018-19). James Pearce, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2025 The Commission’s proposal for the next budget period - which acts as a curtain-raiser for future negotiation and sets the likely tone for what will be the final budget - has already generated a lot of controversy and seen policy analysts scrambling to understand what’s coming. Frey Lindsay, Forbes.com, 21 July 2025 This setting serves as a high-stakes curtain-raiser for the season. David Faris, Newsweek, 2 Feb. 2025 The curtain-raiser for the 2025 tennis season. Matthew Futterman, The Athletic, 21 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1886, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of curtain-raiser was in 1886

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Cite this Entry

“Curtain-raiser.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/curtain-raiser. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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