Adjacent Words

Cloak definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CLOAK. [See Cloke.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: anything that covers or conceals
2: a loose outer garment v
1: hide under a false appearance; "He masked his disappointment" [syn: dissemble, cloak, mask]
2: cover as if with clothing; "the mountain was clothed in tropical trees" [syn: clothe, cloak, drape, robe]
3: cover with or as if with a cloak; "cloaked monks"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English cloke, from Anglo-French cloque bell, cloak, from Medieval Latin clocca bell; from its shape Date: 13th century 1. a loose outer garment 2. something likened to an outer garment: as a. something that envelops or conceals <a cloak of secrecy> b. a distinctive character or role <hung up his academic cloak…to become a stay-at-home father — Charles Chamberlain> II. transitive verb Date: 1509 to cover or hide with or as if with a cloak Synonyms: see disguise

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 an outdoor over-garment, usu. sleeveless, hanging loosely from the shoulders. 2 a covering (cloak of snow). 3 (in pl.) = CLOAKROOM. --v.tr. 1 cover with a cloak. 2 conceal, disguise. Phrases and idioms: cloak-and-dagger involving intrigue and espionage. under the cloak of using as a pretext. Etymology: ME f. OF cloke, dial. var. of cloche bell, cloak (from its bell shape) f. med.L clocca bell: see CLOCK(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cloak Cloak, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cloaked; p. pr. & vb. n. Cloaking.] To cover with, or as with, a cloak; hence, to hide or conceal. Now glooming sadly, so to cloak her matter. --Spenser. Syn: See Palliate.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cloak Cloak (?; 110), n. [Of. cloque cloak (from the bell-like shape), bell, F. cloche bell; perh. of Celtic origin and the same word as E. clock. See 1st Clock.] 1. A loose outer garment, extending from the neck downwards, and commonly without sleeves. It is longer than a cape, and is worn both by men and by women. 2. That which conceals; a disguise or pretext; an excuse; a fair pretense; a mask; a cover. No man is esteemed any ways considerable for policy who wears religion otherwise than as a cloak. --South. Cloak bag, a bag in which a cloak or other clothes are carried; a portmanteau. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(cloaks, cloaking, cloaked) 1. A cloak is a long, loose, sleeveless piece of clothing which people used to wear over their other clothes when they went out. N-COUNT 2. A cloak of something such as mist or snow completely covers and hides something. Today most of England will be under a cloak of thick mist. = blanket N-SING: N of n 3. If you refer to something as a cloak, you mean that it is intended to hide the truth about something. Preparations for the wedding were made under a cloak of secrecy... N-SING: N of/for n 4. To cloak something means to cover it or hide it. (WRITTEN) ...the decision to cloak major tourist attractions in unsightly hoardings... The beautiful sweeping coastline was cloaked in mist. VERB: V n in n, V-ed

Easton's Bible Dictionary

an upper garment, "an exterior tunic, wide and long, reaching to the ankles, but without sleeves" (Isa. 59:17). The word so rendered is elsewhere rendered "robe" or "mantle." It was worn by the high priest under the ephod (Ex. 28:31), by kings and others of rank (1 Sam. 15:27; Job 1:20; 2:12), and by women (2 Sam. 13:18).

The word translated "cloke", i.e., outer garment, in Matt. 5:40 is in its plural form used of garments in general (Matt. 17:2; 26:65). The cloak mentioned here and in Luke 6:29 was the Greek himation, Latin pallium, and consisted of a large square piece of wollen cloth fastened round the shoulders, like the abba of the Arabs. This could be taken by a creditor (Ex. 22:26,27), but the coat or tunic (Gr. chiton) mentioned in Matt. 5:40 could not.

The cloak which Paul "left at Troas" (2 Tim. 4:13) was the Roman paenula, a thick upper garment used chiefly in travelling as a protection from the weather. Some, however, have supposed that what Paul meant was a travelling-bag. In the Syriac version the word used means a bookcase. (See Dress.)

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Mantle. 2. Mask, veil, cover, blind, pretext. II. v. a. Mask, hide, veil, cover. III. n. 1. Timekeeper, timepiece, horologe. 2. Beetle, scarab, scarabee, scarabaeus, coleopter. 3. Embroidery (on stockings), broidery, embroidered figure.

Moby Thesaurus

alibi, apology, apply to, arm, armor, becloud, befog, blanket, bless, blind, block, bonnet, boot, breech, camouflage, canopy, cap, cape, champion, clothe, cloud, coat, coif, color, compass about, conceal, concealment, cope, copyright, cover, cover story, cover up, cover-up, coverage, covering, covert, coverture, cowl, cowling, curtain, cushion, defend, device, disguise, dissemble, dissimulate, distract attention from, drape, drapery, dress up, eclipse, ensconce, enshroud, ensure, envelop, excuse, facade, face, feint, fence, fend, film, frock, front, gloss, gloss over, gown, guarantee, guard, guise, handle, hanging, harbor, hat, haven, hide, hood, housing, insure, jacket, keep, keep from harm, keep under cover, lame excuse, lay on, lay over, locus standi, make safe, mantle, mask, muffle, nestle, obduce, obfuscate, obscure, occult, ostensible motive, overcoat, overlay, overspread, pall, patent, police, poncho, poor excuse, pretense, pretension, pretext, protect, protestation, public motive, put on, put-off, refuge, register, ride shotgun for, robe, safeguard, screen, scum, secure, semblance, shade, sham, shelter, shield, shirt, shoe, show, shroud, slur over, smoke screen, sock, spread over, stalking-horse, stocking, stratagem, subterfuge, superimpose, superpose, trick, underwrite, varnish, veil, veneer, vestment, whitewash, wrap