[Fr. entr’acte, f. entre between + acte act.] a. The interval between two acts of a play in a theatrical performance. b. A performance of music, dancing, etc., taking place between the acts.
[1750. Chesterf., Lett. (1774), I. clxxxvii. 563. Play … is only the ‘inter-acts’ of other amusements.]
1863. ‘Ouida,’ Held in Bondage (1870), 52. That old man there, who droops his head, takes snuff during the entr’actes.
1884. Stevenson, New Arab. Nts., 310. It was more like an entr’acte in a farce of Molière’s.
