curfews

Noun

curfew (plural curfews)

1. Any regulation requiring people to be off the streets and in their homes by a certain time.
   • The city has been reported calm after a curfew was imposed.
2. A regulation requiring loud or disruptive activities such as concerts and sporting events to end by a certain time.
   • 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...2025 July 7, Charlie Eccleshare, “Wimbledon’s curfew rule explained: The tennis Grand Slam with an early bedtime”, in The Athletic
3. The time when such restriction begins.
4. A signal indicating this time.
5. A fireplace accessory designed to bank a fire by completely covering the embers.
6. (historical) A regulation in feudal Europe by which fires had to be covered up or put out at a certain fixed time in the evening, marked by the ringing of an evening bell.

See all 7 meanings of curfew