cloak

American  

[klohk] / kloʊk /

noun

1. a loose outer garment, as a cape or coat.

2. something that covers or conceals; disguise; pretense.

   He conducts his affairs under a cloak of secrecy.

   Synonyms:

   veil, mask, cover

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verb (used with object)

1. to cover with or as if with a cloak.

   She arrived at the opera cloaked in green velvet.

2. to hide; conceal.

   The mission was cloaked in mystery.

cloak British  

/ kləʊk /

noun

1. a wraplike outer garment fastened at the throat and falling straight from the shoulders

2. something that covers or conceals

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verb

1. to cover with or as if with a cloak

2. to hide or disguise

Other Word Forms

• cloakless adjective
• undercloak noun
• well-cloaked adjective

Etymology

Origin of cloak

1175–1225; Middle English cloke (< Old French ) < Medieval Latin cloca, variant of clocca bell-shaped cape, bell; clock ¹

Example Sentences

Chanting can then be heard in the background as clips show Princess Irulan removing the hood of her cloak.

From BBC

There, below a big red boulder shaped like a sleeping auroch, lay two drowned wolves like sodden fur cloaks.

From Literature

It cloaks your identity Wherever you roam on the web, you leave behind a trail that your ISP and other interlopers can use to identify you.

From Salon

Thanks to sophisticated IP cloaking and high-level encryption, you get uncensored internet access, free of geographical content restrictions and aggressive digital marketing tactics.

From Salon

A big problem was that early Mac sales success cloaked some of the severe technical problems that almost led to the company’s failure.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• camouflage
• conceal
• dress up
• obscure
• shroud
• veil