cloak

Pluralcloaks

Formscloaks, cloaking, cloaked

1. 1
   clothingnouncountable

   A long outer garment that hangs from the shoulders to cover the back, like a cape and often with a hood.

   He swung a heavy velvet cloak around his shoulders before stepping out into the snow.

   The actors' cloaks hung on hooks backstage, ready for the second act.

   Similarcape, mantle

   Note

   The garment is named for its shape: Medieval Latin clocca, a traveler's cape, literally meant "a bell," because the cloth flared out like one. The word, of Celtic origin, reached English through Old Northern French cloque and Middle English cloke. The same Latin source gave English clock and cloche, so the three are doublets that went their separate ways.

2. 2
   hideverbfigurativelytransitive

   To cover up or conceal something so that it cannot be seen or known.

   Politicians often cloak unpopular plans in vague language.

   The talks were cloaked in secrecy until the deal was signed.

   Similardisguise, mask, veil, shroud, conceal

   Oppositereveal, expose, disclose

3. 3
   false frontnounfigurativelycountable

   Something used to hide what is really going on, such as a disguise or a pretext.

   The small trading company served as a cloak for smuggling weapons.

   The spies entered the country under the cloak of a scientific expedition.

   Similarcover, front, guise, mask, screen

   Note

   An old figure that has kept its edge: the King James Bible of 1611 already disowns "a cloak of covetousness," and Robert South, preaching in 1676, mocked men who wore religion as a cloak, a garment that covers and keeps them warm yet hangs loose. Today it usually comes as under the cloak of or a cloak for, naming a respectable front with something less honest behind it.

4. 4
   cover oververbtransitive

   To cover something in the way a cloak covers the person wearing it.

   Mist and low cloud often cloak the summit in winter.

   A soft silk shawl cloaked her shoulders against the evening chill.

   Similarshroud, envelop, cover, wrap, blanket

5. 5
   thick layernouncountable

   A covering that spreads over something like a blanket, often in a figurative sense.

   A thick cloak of fog settled over the harbor overnight.

   The old chimney had disappeared under a cloak of ivy.

   Similarblanket, mantle, shroud, veil

6. 6
   make invisibleverbtransitive or intransitive

   In science fiction, to make something invisible, or to become invisible, by means of futuristic technology.

   Stealth fighters in the film can cloak at will, slipping past enemy patrols unseen.

   The engineers found a way to cloak the entire station from enemy sensors.

   Note

   Science fiction's verb for vanishing on purpose works both ways: a ship cloaks, or its crew cloaks the ship, and the gear that does it is usually called a cloaking device. Unlike the figurative sense of hiding, which keeps facts or motives out of view, this one promises literal invisibility, to the eye and to enemy sensors alike.

7. 7
   chat addressnouncountable

   On IRC, a piece of text shown in place of a user's hostname or IP address, making the user harder to identify.

   The network grants cloaks to registered users so their home IP addresses stay private.

   Her cloak read 'project/developer' instead of her internet provider's hostname.

   Note

   On IRC, a user's full address normally ends in the hostname or IP address of their connection, visible to anyone who looks and able to hint at where they are. A network that grants a cloak replaces that part with neutral text, often naming a project, a role or simply the account, so the person stays recognizable without being easy to trace.

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