[Origin: 1275–1325; ME < AF, OF < L coopertus, ptp. of cooperīre to cover completely; see cover]
—Related forms
co·vert·ly, adverb
co·vert·ness, noun
—Synonyms 1. clandestine, surreptitious, furtive.
—Pronunciation note Covert, related to cover, has historically been pronounced Audio Help/ˈkʌvərt/Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kuhv-ert]Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation, with Audio Help/ʌ/[uh], the same stressed vowel found in cover. This Audio Help/ʌ/[uh]is the traditional and unchallenged vowel in many other English words spelled with stressed o followed by v, voiced th, or a nasal in the same syllable, words of high frequency like love and above, mother and other, some and honey. The adjective covert, however, by analogy with overt Audio Help/oʊˈvɜrt, ˈoʊvərt/[oh-vurt, oh-vert], its semantic opposite, has developed the pronunciation Audio Help/ˈkoʊvərt/[koh-vert], perhaps because of the frequent coupling of the two terms in the news media. This is now the more common pronunciation for the adjective in American English, though not in British English, which retains the historical pronunciation. For the noun senses, less likely to appear in the news or to be contrasted with overt and its Audio Help/oʊ/[oh]sound, the historical Audio Help/ˈkʌvərt/[kuhv-ert]remains the more frequent pronunciation.
secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; "covert actions by the CIA"; "covert funding for the rebels" [ant: open]
2.
(of a wife) being under the protection of her husband; "a woman covert"
noun
1.
a flock of coots
2.
a covering that serves to conceal or shelter something; "a screen of trees afforded privacy"; "under cover of darkness"; "the brush provided a covert for game"; "the simplest concealment is to match perfectly the color of the background" [syn: screen]
Cov"ert\ (k?v"?rt), a. [OF. covert, F. couvert, p. p. of couvrir. See Cover, v. t.]1. Covered over; private; hid; secret; disguised. How covert matters may be best disclosed. --Shak. Whether of open war or covert guile. --Milton 2. Sheltered; not open or exposed; retired; protected; as, a covert nook. -- Wordsworth. Of either side the green, to plant a covert alley. --Bacon. 3. (Law) Under cover, authority or protection; as, a feme covert, a married woman who is considered as being under the protection and control of her husband. Covert way, (Fort.) See Covered way, under Covered. Syn: Hidden; secret; private; covered; disguised; insidious; concealed. See Hidden.
Cov"ert\, n. [OF. See Covert, a.]1. A place that covers and protects; a shelter; a defense. A tabernacle . . . for a covert from storm. --Is. iv. 6. The highwayman has darted from his covered by the wayside. --Prescott. 2. [Cf. F. couverte.] (Zo["o]l.) One of the special feathers covering the bases of the quills of the wings and tail of a bird. See Illust. of Bird.
Cov"ert\, n. [OF. See Covert, a.]1. A place that covers and protects; a shelter; a defense. A tabernacle . . . for a covert from storm. --Is. iv. 6. The highwayman has darted from his covered by the wayside. --Prescott. 2. [Cf. F. couverte.] (Zo["o]l.) One of the special feathers covering the bases of the quills of the wings and tail of a bird. See Illust. of Bird.
Dis*cov"ert\, a. [Cf. F. d['e]couvert uncovered, OF. descovert. See Discover, Covert.] (Law) Not covert; not within the bonds of matrimony; unmarried; -- applied either to a woman who has never married or to a widow.
Feme\ (? or ?), n. [OF. feme, F. femme.] (Old Law) A woman. --Burrill. Feme covert (Law), a married woman. See Covert, a., 3. Feme sole (Law), a single or unmarried woman; a woman who has never been married, or who has been divorced, or whose husband is dead. Feme soletrader or merchant (Eng. Law), a married woman, who, by the custom of London, engages in business on her own account, inpendently of her husband.
Hid"den\, p. p. & a. from Hide. Concealed; put out of view; secret; not known; mysterious. Hidden fifths or octaves (Mus.), consecutive fifths or octaves, not sounded, but suggested or implied in the parallel motion of two parts towards a fifth or an octave. Syn: Hidden, Secret, Covert. Usage: Hidden may denote either known to on one; as, a hidden disease; or intentionally concealed; as, a hidden purpose of revenge. Secret denotes that the thing is known only to the party or parties concerned; as, a secret conspiracy. Covert literally denotes what is not open or avowed; as, a covert plan; but is often applied to what we mean shall be understood, without openly expressing it; as, a covert allusion. Secret is opposed to known, and hidden to revealed. Bring to light the hidden things of darkness. --1 Cor. iv. 5. My heart, which by a secret harmony Still moves with thine, joined in connection sweet. --Milton. By what best way, Whether of open war, or covert guile, We now debate. --Milton.
Wing\, n. [OE. winge, wenge; probably of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. & Sw. vinge, Icel. v[ae]ngr.]1. One of the two anterior limbs of a bird, pterodactyl, or bat. They correspond to the arms of man, and are usually modified for flight, but in the case of a few species of birds, as the ostrich, auk, etc., the wings are used only as an assistance in running or swimming. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings. --Deut. xxxii. 11. Note: In the wing of a bird the long quill feathers are in series. The primaries are those attached to the ulnar side of the hand; the secondaries, or wing coverts, those of the forearm: the scapulars, those that lie over the humerus; and the bastard feathers, those of the short outer digit. See Illust. of Bird, and Plumage. 2. Any similar member or instrument used for the purpose of flying. Specifically: (Zo["o]l.) (a) One of the two pairs of upper thoracic appendages of most hexapod insects. They are broad, fanlike organs formed of a double membrane and strengthened by chitinous veins or nervures. (b) One of the large pectoral fins of the flying fishes. 3. Passage by flying; flight; as, to take wing. Light thickens; and the crow Makes wing to the rooky wood. --Shak. 4. Motive or instrument of flight; means of flight or of rapid motion. Fiery expedition be my wing. --Shak. 5. Anything which agitates the air as a wing does, or which is put in winglike motion by the action of the air, as a fan or vane for winnowing grain, the vane or sail of a windmill, etc. 6. An ornament worn on the shoulder; a small epaulet or shoulder knot. 7. Any appendage resembling the wing of a bird or insect in shape or appearance. Specifically: (a) (Zo["o]l.) One of the broad, thin, anterior lobes of the foot of a pteropod, used as an organ in swimming. (b) (Bot.) Any membranaceous expansion, as that along the sides of certain stems, or of a fruit of the kind called samara. (c) (Bot.) Either of the two side petals of a papilionaceous flower. 8. One of two corresponding appendages attached; a sidepiece. Hence: (a) (Arch.) A side building, less than the main edifice; as, one of the wings of a palace. (b) (Fort.) The longer side of crownworks, etc., connecting them with the main work. (c) (Hort.) A side shoot of a tree or plant; a branch growing up by the side of another. [Obs.] (d) (Mil.) The right or left division of an army, regiment, etc. (e) (Naut.) That part of the hold or orlop of a vessel which is nearest the sides. In a fleet, one of the extremities when the ships are drawn up in line, or when forming the two sides of a triangle. --Totten. (f) One of the sides of the stags in a theater. On the wing. (a) Supported by, or flying with, the wings another. On the wings of the wind, with the utmost velocity. Under the wing, or wings, of, under the care or protection of. Wing and wing (Naut.), with sails hauled out on either side; -- said of a schooner, or her sails, when going before the wind with the foresail on one side and the mainsail on the other; also said of a square-rigged vessel which has her studding sails set. Cf. Goosewinged. Wing case (Zo["o]l.), one of the anterior wings of beetles, and of some other insects, when thickened and used to protect the hind wings; an elytron; -- called also wing cover. Wing covert (Zo["o]l.), one of the small feathers covering the bases of the wing quills. See Covert, n., 2. Wing gudgeon (Mach.), an iron gudgeon for the end of a wooden axle, having thin, broad projections to prevent it from turning in the wood. See Illust. of Gudgeon. Wing shell (Zo["o]l.), wing case of an insect. Wing stroke, the stroke or sweep of a wing. Wing transom (Naut.), the uppermost transom of the stern; -- called also main transom. --J. Knowles.
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Audio Help [adj. koh-vert, kuhv-ert; n. kuhv-ert, koh-vert] Pronunciation Key 
