iron curtain

noun

1
: a political, military, and ideological barrier that cuts off and isolates an area
specifically, often capitalized : one formerly isolating an area under Soviet control
2
: an impenetrable barrier
the iron curtain between the ego and the unconsciousC. J. Rolo

Examples of iron curtain in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web If the United States stopped aiding and protecting fledgling democracies, however, some could disappear behind Beijing’s digital iron curtain. Michael Beckley, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023 Under this logic, the new iron curtain is being built not by Putin but by the West, which seeks to lock Russians inside their own borders through its sanctions and visa bans. Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 9 Sep. 2022 Russia is dropping a digital iron curtain over its population, creating a big, new fracture in the global internet—but there are still big gaps in President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to cut off the country from online information accessible in much of the rest of the world. Sam Schechner and Keach Hagey, WSJ, 12 Mar. 2022 And so arguably these are the people that have the most to lose by the expansion of those rights, and the most to gain in a sense by erecting frontiers, erecting a kind of new iron curtain around Europe. Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2015 An economic and cultural iron curtain is descending on Russia as President Vladimir Putin proceeds with his invasion of Ukraine, reversing decades of integration with Western economies and threatening to isolate Russians to an extent unseen since the Soviet era. Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2022 That unit should always be an iron curtain of talent and toughness. Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 17 Sep. 2022 Most bands who reach that level of success don’t do that or they get surrounded by an iron curtain where nobody can speak to them. Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 26 Aug. 2022 The result is Russians now live behind a digital iron curtain, albeit one with significant gaps. Sam Schechner, WSJ, 8 Aug. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'iron curtain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1819, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of iron curtain was in 1819

Dictionary Entries Near iron curtain

Cite this Entry

“Iron curtain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/iron%20curtain. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

iron curtain

noun
: a political and military barrier that isolates an area from outside contact

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