# hide

Pronunciation: say "HYD" /haɪd/

## Verb

1. To put someone or something, including oneself, in a place where they will be out of sight or hard to find.
   - Simple: To put something or yourself where others cannot see or find it.
   - _Investigators believe the suspect hid the weapon in a storm drain._
   - _Every December, she has to hide the presents at the back of her closet so the kids won't find them._
2. To keep a fact, feeling, or reaction from other people, either by not revealing it or by not letting it show.
   - Simple: To keep a fact or feeling secret, or to stop other people from seeing how you feel.
   - _I couldn't hide my surprise when the manager announced she was leaving._
   - _The company hid its losses from investors for almost two years._
7. Of a thing: to be placed before or over someone or something in a way that keeps it out of sight.
   - Simple: For a thing, to be in front of or over something so that people cannot see it.
   - _The new apartment towers hide the river from most of the neighborhood._
   - _A thick curtain of ivy hid the old doorway from passersby._

## Noun

3. The skin of an animal, often processed into leather or other goods.
   - Simple: The skin of an animal, often used to make leather.
   - _A rhinoceros has a remarkably thick hide._
   - _The tannery receives hundreds of salted hides every week._
4. One's own life or personal safety, especially when it is at risk. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: Your own life or safety, especially when you are in danger.
   - _The witness lied to the police to save his own hide._
   - _When the deal collapsed, every partner scrambled to protect their own hide._
5. A screened shelter where people can stay out of sight while watching, photographing or hunting wildlife. *(UK)*
   - Simple: A shelter where people can watch wild animals without being seen.
   - _Photographers waited in the hide for hours to catch the herons at dawn._
   - _A new hide overlooking the wetland opened to visitors this spring._
6. A person's skin, spoken of humorously or with contempt as if it were an animal's. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A person's skin, called this as a joke or to sound rude.
   - _The beggar's hide was cracked and weathered from years on the road._
   - _The mosquitoes feasted on his tough old hide all night, and he woke up covered in itchy bites._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A historical unit of land area and tax assessment, varying in size but originally reckoned as enough land to support one household and its dependents.
- (verb) To beat or flog, especially with a whip made of leather or rawhide.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 7** — The verb comes from Middle English hiden, from Old English hȳdan ("to hide, conceal, preserve"), going back through Proto-Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to cover" or "to wrap." It is related to Ancient Greek keúthō ("to conceal"), perhaps to Latin custōs, and also to the words hut and sky.
**Meanings 3–6** — The noun comes from Middle English hyde, from Old English hȳd, going back through Proto-Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root for "skin" or "hide," ultimately the same "to cover" root as the verb. It is related to German Haut, Dutch huid, and Latin cutis ("skin").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/hide (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).