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• cover-up
  cover-up

  noun

  any action, stratagem, or other means of concealing or preventing investigation or exposure.
• cover up
  cover up

  Wrap up or enfold in order to protect. For example, Be sure to cover up the outdoor furniture in case of rain , or It's cold, so be sure to cover up the baby . [Late 1800s]

cover-up

American  

[kuhv-er-uhp] / ˈkʌv ərˌʌp /

noun

• cover-ups
  plural

1. any action, stratagem, or other means of concealing or preventing investigation or exposure.

2. Also coverup any of various women's garments, as loose blouses, jump suits, caftans, or sarongs, worn over a swimsuit, exercise clothing, or the like.

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cover-up British  

noun

1. concealment or attempted concealment of a mistake, crime, etc

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verb

1. (tr) to cover completely

2. to attempt to conceal (a mistake or crime)

   she tried to cover up for her friend

3. (intr) boxing to defend the body and head with the arms

cover up Idioms  

1. Wrap up or enfold in order to protect. For example, Be sure to cover up the outdoor furniture in case of rain , or It's cold, so be sure to cover up the baby . [Late 1800s]

2. Conceal something, especially a crime, as in The opposition accused the President of covering up his assistant's suicide . [c. 1920]

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cover-ups
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of cover-up

First recorded in 1925–30; noun use of verb phrase cover up

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cover-up cover up cover-ups

"What is alarming is that he seems to have attempted a cover-up, dragging in officials and Transport Scotland," he said.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Asymmetric said it could not determine whether the agents' cover-up was deliberate.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

He spoke to Reed and the super PAC’s lawyer, Cleta Mitchell, and began to hatch a cover-up.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

She walked her across the street where she bought a cover-up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

“I don’t think they’re hacking birds. I think it’s a cover-up for something else. But I don’t know what.”

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

They are the actions of a spoiled brat trying, and failing, to cover up the stench of losing.

From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026

They also depicted him as a scapegoat whose prosecution was being used to cover up the Los Angeles Fire Department's failure to extinguish the initial fire.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

“We don’t cover up for anyone,” Sheinbaum said Friday, repeating her frequent assertion that no one in Mexico — even ruling-party officials — is above the law.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

She says she was also told to cover up her tattoos.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

I snorted to cover up how off-balance he made me feel.

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon

A bill "to prevent cover-ups" in response to the Hillsborough Disaster will "finally pass after years of frustration".

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Can you lay out the lies and fabrications and cover-ups?

From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2025

Warning of the risk of medical cover-ups, Baroness May said she had a friend who calls it the "license to kill Bill".

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025

"There is a culture of cover-ups," one told the BBC.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2025

In turn, Patel tweeted a pledge that “There will be no cover-ups, no missing documents.”

From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2025

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Related Words

• complicity
• conspiracy
• evasion

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