From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Screen \Screen\ (skr[=e]n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Screened; p. pr. & vb. n. Screening.] 1. To provide with a shelter or means of concealment; to separate or cut off from inconvenience, injury, or danger; to shelter; to protect; to protect by hiding; to conceal; as, fruits screened from cold winds by a forest or hill. [1913 Webster] They were encouraged and screened by some who were in high commands. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] 2. To pass, as coal, gravel, ashes, etc., through a screen in order to separate the coarse from the fine, or the worthless from the valuable; to sift. [1913 Webster] 3. to examine a group of objects methodically, to separate them into groups or to select one or more for some purpose. As: (a) To inspect the qualifications of candidates for a job, to select one or more to be hired. (b) (Biochem., Med.) to test a large number of samples, in order to find those having specific desirable properties; as, to screen plant extracts for anticancer agents. [PJC]