cur·few (kûr?fyo?o)n.1. A regulation or rule requiring certain or all people to leave the streets or be at home at a prescribed hour.2. a. The time at which such a restriction begins or is in effect: a 10 pm curfew for all residents.b. The signal, such as a bell, announcing the beginning of this restriction.[Middle English curfeu, from Old French cuevrefeu : covrir, to cover; see cover + feu, fire (from Latin focus, hearth).]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.curfew (?k??fju?) n1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) an official regulation setting restrictions on movement, esp after a specific time at night2. the time set as a deadline by such a regulation3. (Historical Terms) (in medieval Europe)a. the ringing of a bell to prompt people to extinguish fires and lightsb. the time at which the curfew bell was rungc. the bell itself[C13: from Old French cuevrefeu, literally: cover the fire]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014cur?few (?k?r fyu) n. 1. an order establishing a time in the evening after which certain regulations apply, esp. that no unauthorized persons may be outdoors or that places of public assembly must be closed. 2. a regulation requiring a person to be home at a stated time, as one imposed by a parent on a child. 3. the time at which a daily curfew starts. 4. the period during which a curfew is in effect. 5. a signal, as the ringing of a bell, announcing the start of the time of a curfew. 6. a bell for sounding a curfew. 7. (in medieval Europe) the ringing of a bell at a fixed hour in the evening as a signal for covering or extinguishing fires. [1250?1300; Middle English