Definition

1. Noun:
   • A timber member grooved to take a sliding panel: A piece of wood with a groove cut into it, designed to guide and hold a sliding panel or door.
   • A flat situated in the wings: In theater, a flat piece of scenery (a painted canvas on a frame) placed in the wings (the sides of the stage) or in the backstage area.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The old barn door ran smoothly in its wooden coulisse.
  • The stagehand quickly moved the coulisse to change the scene for the next act.

Advanced Usage

• "In the coulisse": A phrase used metaphorically to mean behind the scenes or in a position of hidden influence, derived from the theatrical meaning.
  • The real negotiations happened in the coulisse, away from the public eye.

Variants and Related Words

• Coulisses (plural noun): The collective term for the wings or side areas of a stage.
  • The actors waited nervously in the coulisses.

Synonyms

• Groove (for the timber member sense).
• Wing flat, Scene flat (for the theatrical sense).

Related Phrases

• Behind the scenes: Directly related to the metaphorical use of the theatrical meaning.

Noun

1. a timber member grooved to take a sliding panel
2. a flat situated in the wings