curfew

en
en
Change language
Translating...
Find language
العربية الفصحى
Arabic (Standard)
Deutsch
German
Español
Spanish
Français
French
हिन्दी
Hindi
/ˈkɝː.fjuː/
Add to My Dictionary
In My Dictionary
+1
A limit on being out after a set hour, now usually a public order or home rule, with an older sense of the evening bell that once told households to cover their fires.
Practice using curfew in conversation until it feels natural

Examples

  • The coach set a midnight curfew before the final.
  • Shops closed early so staff could get home before the curfew.
  • The camp curfew sends everyone back to their cabins by ten.
  • My parents gave me an 11 p.m. curfew on weekends.
  • The town kept ringing the curfew long after the fire rule faded.

Similar words

movement restriction
deadline
home time
stay-at-home order
public order
check-in time
ban
regulation
evening bell
house rule

Meanings

Public movement restriction

noun
legal
neutral
An official rule, and the hours it covers, that keeps people off streets or out of public places at set times, usually at night.

Usage

Use curfew for an order imposed by a government, military authority, school, or similar body that restricts movement during set hours.

Examples

  • The city imposed a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. after the unrest.
  • Residents needed permits to travel during the curfew.
  • The governor lifted the curfew once the emergency passed.
  • Police reported several curfew violations downtown.
  • The airport stayed open, but nearby streets were under curfew.
  • A dusk-to-dawn curfew covered the whole district.
  • Shops closed early so staff could get home before the curfew.

Common mistakes

The phrase in curfew is usually wrong for public restrictions, and the normal verbs are impose, lift, break, and violate.
IncorrectCorrect
The city is in curfew tonight. The city is under curfew tonight.
Officials made curfew at 9 p.m. Officials imposed a curfew at 9 p.m.
Several stores broke lockdown after midnight. Several stores broke curfew after midnight.

Similar words

movement restriction
stay-at-home order
nighttime restriction
public order
ban
regulation

Home-by deadline

noun
family
neutral
A set time when a child, student, guest, or member must be home or back in an approved place.

Usage

Use curfew for a personal or household rule about when someone must be back, especially for children, students, campers, or team members.

Examples

  • My parents gave me an 11 p.m. curfew on weekends.
  • The dorm has a strict curfew during orientation week.
  • She missed her curfew by twenty minutes.
  • The coach set a midnight curfew before the final.
  • Teenagers often argue about whether a curfew is fair.
  • He called home because traffic might make him break curfew.
  • The camp curfew sends everyone back to their cabins by ten.

Common mistakes

Curfew at is weak when the focus is the start time, and miss curfew is more natural than lose curfew.
IncorrectCorrect
I lost my curfew by ten minutes. I missed my curfew by ten minutes.
My curfew is in 10 p.m. My curfew is at 10 p.m.
The dorm curfew lets students leave after midnight. The dorm curfew requires students to be back before midnight.

Similar words

home time
time limit
deadline
house rule
check-in time

Evening bell or fire rule

noun
history
archaic
An evening bell, signal, or old regulation that told households to cover or extinguish fires for the night.

Usage

Use curfew in this sense when writing about medieval towns, old church bells, or the fire-covering practice behind the modern word.

Examples

  • The village curfew once rang at eight to warn families to cover their fires.
  • Old records mention the curfew bell beside the church tower.
  • The medieval curfew was meant to reduce the risk of nighttime fires.
  • After the curfew, households banked their hearths for the night.
  • The town kept ringing the curfew long after the fire rule faded.
  • A museum label explains how the curfew gave the modern word its name.
  • The curfew sounded across the walls as the gates were closed.

Common mistakes

Curfew did not originally mean a modern police order, so historical contexts need the bell or fire sense made clear.
IncorrectCorrect
The medieval curfew was a police lockdown. The medieval curfew was a bell warning households to cover their fires.
The curfew fire rang at eight. The curfew bell rang at eight.
Villagers curfewed the fire. Villagers covered or banked the fire after the curfew.

Similar words

evening bell
warning bell
fire bell
signal

Usage

Use curfew for the rule or the time it controls, with under curfew, before curfew, impose a curfew, lift a curfew, and break curfew as the main patterns.

Common mistakes

In curfew is usually wrong for public orders, and curfew should not be used as an ordinary verb for staying inside.

Etymology

From Middle English curfeu, from Anglo-French coverfeu, literally “cover fire”, the signal to bank or extinguish hearth fires at night.

FAQ

Comments & contributions

Know this word from another angle? Add a correction, a nuance, or a usage note. New posts go public after a quick review.
Posting as a guest · Sign in
No comments yet. Be the first to add one.
Look up word or phrase...