Definition of: curfew

(kûr′fy) noun
1. An ancient police regulation requiring fires and lights to be put out at the tolling of a bell.
2. The bell itself.
3. The hour of ringing such a bell.
4. The ringing of a bell at a certain hour in the evening, still prevailing locally, as in parts of the United States and France.
5. A police or military regulation that civilians keep off the streets after a designated hour; also, a municipal order of the same tenor applying to children only. [<AF coeverfu, OF cuevrefu <couvrir cover + feu fire]