ring down the curtain


ring down the curtain (on something)

1. To bring a performance or act of a play to an end by lowering the theater curtain. The phrase refers to the practice of ringing a bell to signal the lowering of the curtain in the theater. The audience gave the performance a standing ovation as the theater rang down the curtain. The shocking twist at the end of the second act left the audience in stunned silence as the curtain was rung down.2. To bring about or signal the end of something. The company announced that it will ring down the curtain after nearly 50 years of business. The government is ringing down the curtain on the controversial program next month.See also: curtain, down, ring

ring down (or up) the curtain

mark the end (or the beginning) of an enterprise or event. The reference here is to the ringing of a bell in a theatre as the signal to raise or lower the stage curtain at the beginning or end of a performance. Compare with bring down the curtain on (at curtain).See also: curtain, down, ring

bring/ring down the ˈcurtain (on something)

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bring/ring the ˈcurtain down (on something)

bring an end to something: The BBC has finally decided to bring the curtain down on one of its oldest television programmes.See also: bring, curtain, down, ring

ring down the curtain

To end a performance, event, or action.See also: curtain, down, ring

ring down the curtain (on), to

To bring something to a conclusion. In the nineteenth-century theater a bell rung backstage was often used as a signal to lower the curtain, signifying the end of a scene or act. Thackeray recorded it thus (The End of the Play): “The play is done, the curtain drops, slow falling to the prompter’s bell.” It was transferred to other kinds of ending by the early twentieth century.See also: curtain, down, ring