raiser
Related to raiser: gloat, Held Back, Razer
curtain raiser
1. A short play or skit that precedes the main performance. I have always wanted to be a stage actor, but I've only been cast in a few tiny curtain raisers so far, playing to mostly empty theaters.
2. By extension, any event or performance that precedes the main attraction. Some local singer performed a few songs as a curtain raiser, but no one really paid him much attention until he finally announced the band was about to come on stage. The curtain-raiser match between the two university teams proved far more exciting than the professional football match that everyone had paid to see.
See also: curtain, raiser
heller
Someone who is apt to act wildly and cause or get into trouble. Yeah, I was a heller in college, but those days are long over—I have a job and a family now. You two are going to be grounded for life if you keep acting like total hellers.
hellraiser
Someone who is apt to act wildly and cause or get into trouble. Yeah, I was a hellraiser in college, but those days are long over—I have a job and a family now. You two are going to be grounded for life if you keep acting like total hellraisers.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
curtain raiser
Preliminary event, as in This limited attack on the chairman is just a curtain raiser for the concerted effort to oust him . This term literally refers to a short play or skit presented before the main theatrical production. It began to be transferred to other preliminaries about 1940.
See also: curtain, raiser
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
heller
and hell raiser n. a rowdy person; a hell-raising person. (Use caution with hell.) Jimmy is turning out to be a real hell raiser. A bunch of hell raisers kept me up late last night.
hell raiser
verbSee heller
See also: hell, raiser
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
- curtain raiser
- the curtain falls
- the curtain falls on (something)
- draw the curtain
- bring down the curtain
- bring down the curtain (on something)
- bring down the curtain on
- bring the curtain down on something
- bring/ring down the curtain
- Guess what!