iron curtain
Heavy metallic partition
An iron curtain is any impenetrable barrier, especially one that blocks information or communication: An iron curtain descended between the two departments after the merger.
The phrase suggests something heavy, opaque, and impossible to see through or cross. (Capitalized Iron Curtain refers to the Cold War boundary.)
Vertical enclosing structure
- blockadeSealing off a place
- barricadeObstacle blocking a path
- fenceBoundary structure between properties
- boundaryLine marking a limit
partition · enclosure · divide · separation · obstacle · obstruction · impediment · screen
Impermeability to light
- concealmentAct of hiding something
- information blackoutDeliberate suppression of news
- communication breakdownFailure to convey meaning
- isolationComplete separation from others
inaccessibility · impenetrability · silence · darkness · obscurity
wall
Vertical enclosing structure
- blockadeSealing off a place
- barricadeObstacle blocking a path
- fenceBoundary structure between properties
boundary · partition · enclosure · divide · separation · obstacle · obstruction · impediment · screen · veil
opacity
Impermeability to light
- concealmentAct of hiding something
- information blackoutDeliberate suppression of news
- communication breakdownFailure to convey meaning
isolation · inaccessibility · impenetrability · silence · darkness · obscurity
- ironferric, ferrite, hematite, magnetite, limonite
- Eastern European historyRussian history, Soviet history, communist era, Prague Spring, interwar period
- 20th CenturyWorld War I aftermath, Cuban Missile Crisis, atomic bomb, New Deal, Nazi Germany
- Eastern EuropePoland, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria
- 1950sEisenhower, poodle skirt, Elvis Presley, Rosa Parks, baby boom
- Cold WarBerlin Wall, arms race, Warsaw Pact, Cuban Missile Crisis, Eastern Bloc
iron curtainopen borders
Unregulated international passage
free movement · open society · free world · glasnost · détente
iron curtainopen door
Barrier removed for entry
bridge · fall of the Berlin Wall · reunification · open window · corridor
iron, curtain, irons, ironing, ironed, curtail, ironwork, ferrous, curtainless