Etimology
From Middle English coveren, borrowed from Old French covrir, cueuvrir (modern French couvrir), from Late Latin coperire, from Latin cooperiō (“I cover completely”), from co- (intensive prefix) + operiō (“I close, cover”). Displaced native Middle English thecchen and bethecchen (“to cover”) (from Old English þeccan, beþeccan (“to cover”)), Middle English helen, (over)helen, (for)helen (“to cover, conceal”) (from Old English helan (“to conceal, cover, hide”)), Middle English wrien, (be)wreon (“to cover”) (from Old English (be)wrēon (“to cover”)), Middle English hodren, hothren (“to cover up”) (from Low German hudren (“to cover up”)). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the original sense of the verb and noun cover was “hide from view” as in its cognate covert. Except in the limited sense of “cover again,” the word recover is unrelated and is cognate with recuperate. Cognate with Spanish cubrir (“to cover”).
noun
cover (countable and uncountable, plural covers)
A lid.
(uncountable) Area or situation which screens a person or thing from view.
The front and back of a book, magazine, CD package, etc.
The top sheet of a bed.
A cloth or similar material, often fitted, placed over an item such as a car or sofa or food to protect it from dust, rain, insects, etc. when not being used.
A cover charge.
A setting at a restaurant table or formal dinner.
(music) A new performance or rerecording of a previously recorded song; a cover version; a cover song.
(cricket) A fielding position on the off side, between point and mid off, about 30° forward of square; a fielder in this position.
(combinatorics, topology) A collection (or family) of subsets of a given set, whose union contains every element of said original set.
(philately) An envelope complete with stamps and postmarks etc.
(military) A solid object, including terrain, that provides protection from enemy fire.
(law) In commercial law, a buyer’s purchase on the open market of goods similar or identical to the goods contracted for after a seller has breached a contract of sale by failure to deliver the goods contracted for.
(insurance) An insurance contract; coverage by an insurance contract.
(espionage) A persona maintained by a spy or undercover operative; cover story.
(dated) A swindler's confederate.
The portion of a slate, tile, or shingle that is hidden by the overlap of the course above.
In a steam engine, the lap of a slide valve.
(construction) The distance between reinforcing steel and the exterior of concrete.
Examples
The soldiers took cover behind a ruined building.
There's a $15 cover tonight.
We need to set another cover for the Smith party.
When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.
Hyponyms: exact cover, partition
The open intervals are a cover for the real numbers.
adjective
cover (not comparable)
Of or pertaining to the front cover of a book or magazine.
(music) Of, pertaining to, or consisting of cover versions.
verb
cover (third-person singular simple present covers, present participle covering, simple past and past participle covered)
(transitive) To place something over or upon, as to conceal or protect.
(transitive) To be over or upon, as to conceal or protect.
(transitive) To be upon all of, so as to completely conceal.
(transitive) To set upon all of, so as to completely conceal.
(intransitive, dated) To put on one's hat.
(transitive) To invest (oneself with something); to bring upon (oneself).
(of a publication) To discuss thoroughly; to provide coverage of.
To deal with or include someone or something.
To be enough money for.
To supply with funds; to settle or pay the costs for; to foot the bill for.
(intransitive) To act as a replacement.
(transitive) To have as an assignment or responsibility.
(music) To make a cover version of (a song that was originally recorded by another artist).
(military, law enforcement) To protect using an aimed firearm and the threat of firing; or to protect using continuous, heaving fire at or in the direction of the enemy so as to force the enemy to remain in cover; or to threaten using an aimed firearm.
To provide insurance coverage for.
To copulate with (said of certain male animals such as dogs and horses).
(chess, transitive) To protect or control (a piece or square).
To extend over a given period of time or range, to occupy, to stretch over a given area.
To traverse or put behind a certain distance.
(transitive, dated) To arrange plates, etc. on (a table) in preparation for a meal.
(sports) To defend (mark) a particular player or area.
Examples
He covered the baby with a blanket.
When the pot comes to a boil, cover it and reduce the heat to medium.
The blanket covered the baby.
A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire.
Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems— […]. Such a slow-release device containing angiogenic factors could be placed on the pia mater covering the cerebral cortex and tested in persons with senile dementia in long term studies.
Regular hexagons can cover the plane.
You can cover the plane with regular hexagons.
All the while he held his hat in his hand; and even until he had given his answer, when he covered and bade us be.
The heroic soldier covered himself with glory.
the powers that covered themselves with everlasting infamy by the partition of Poland
The magazine covers such diverse topics as politics, news from the world of science, and the economy.
Richard Morgan covers science for The Economist, The New York Times, Scientific American, and Wired.
We've earned enough to cover most of our costs.
Ten dollars should cover lunch.
Dad, when I get to University, will I be covered?
I need to take off Tuesday. Can you cover for me?
Can you cover the morning shift tomorrow? I'll give you off next Monday instead.
He is our salesman covering companies with headquarters in the northern provinces.
Does my policy cover accidental loss?
Among animals in a domesticated or confined state it is easy to find evidence of homosexual attraction, due merely to the absence of the other sex. This was known to the ancients; the Egyptians regarded two male partridges as the symbol of homosexuality, and Aristotle noted that two female pigeons would cover each other if no male was at hand.
I would like to have my bitch covered next spring.
The stallion has not covered the mare yet.
Synonym: impregnate
In order to checkmate a king on the side of the board, the five squares adjacent to the king must all be covered.
November 22 — Owing to bad weather all machines flew at a height of 5,000 feet and covered the 90 miles in just 90 minutes . November 23 — During fourth lap ...
It had covered better than 840 miles in just a few hours more than seven days.32 The apparently clumsily managed shuffle through the various railroad nets ...
Synonyms: lay the table, set the table
[…] he told plaintiff he would cover the table, and furnish it the same as the one he was sitting at, and that he should be waited upon and served the same as those on the other side of the room.