[klohk] Pronunciation Key | 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. |
| 3. | to cover with or as if with a cloak: She arrived at the opera cloaked in green velvet. |
| 4. | to hide; conceal: The mission was cloaked in mystery. |
—Related forms
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
| cloak
(klōk) Pronunciation Key
n.
tr.v. cloaked, cloak·ing, cloaks To cover or conceal with or as if with a cloak. See Synonyms at clothe, disguise, hide1. [Middle English cloke, from Old North French cloque, cloak, bell (from its shape), from Medieval Latin clocca; see clock1.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
cloak
| cloak | |
noun | |
| 1. | anything that covers or conceals |
| 2. | a loose outer garment |
verb | |
| 1. | hide under a false appearance; "He masked his disappointment" [syn: dissemble] |
| 2. | cover as if with clothing; "the mountain was clothed in tropical trees" [syn: clothe] |
| 3. | cover with or as if with a cloak; "cloaked monks" |
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.
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.
Cloak
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.)
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