shroud

American  

[shroud] / ʃraʊd /

noun

• shrouds
  plural

1. a cloth or sheet in which a corpse is wrapped for burial.

   Synonyms:

   winding sheet

2. something that covers or conceals like a garment.

   a shroud of rain.

3. Nautical. any of a number of taut ropes or wires converging from both sides on the head of a lower or upper mast of the outer end of a bowsprit to steady it against lateral sway: a part of the standing rigging.

4. Also called shroud line.  Aeronautics. any of a number of suspension cords of a parachute attaching the load to the canopy.

5. Also called shrouding.  Machinery.

   1. (on a nonmetallic gear) an extended metal rim enclosing the ends of the teeth on either side.

   2. (on a water wheel) one of two rings of boards or plates enclosing the buckets at their ends.

6. Rocketry. a cone-shaped shield that protects the payload of a launch vehicle.

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verb (used with object)

• shrouds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shrouded,
  past participle,  past
• shrouding
  present participle

1. to wrap or clothe for burial; enshroud.

2. to cover; hide from view.

   Synonyms:

   screen, conceal

3. to veil, as in obscurity or mystery.

   They shrouded their past lives in an effort to forget.

4. to provide (a water wheel) with a shroud.

5. Obsolete. to shelter.

verb (used without object)

• shrouds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shrouded,
  past participle,  past
• shrouding
  present participle

1. Archaic. to take shelter.

shroud British  

/ ʃraʊd /

noun

1. a garment or piece of cloth used to wrap a dead body

2. anything that envelops like a garment

   a shroud of mist

3. a protective covering for a piece of equipment

4. astronautics a streamlined protective covering used to protect the payload during a rocket-powered launch

5. nautical one of a pattern of ropes or cables used to stay a mast

6. any of a set of wire cables stretched between a smokestack or similar structure and the ground, to prevent side sway

7. Also called: shroud line.  any of a set of lines running from the canopy of a parachute to the harness

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verb

1. (tr) to wrap in a shroud

2. (tr) to cover, envelop, or hide

3. archaic to seek or give shelter

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• shroudless
  adjective
• shroudlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• shrouds
  plural

Participles

• shrouding
  present
• shrouded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• shroud
  simple
• shrouds
  simple
• have shrouded
  perfect
• has shrouded
  perfect
• am shrouding
  progressive
• are shrouding
  progressive
• is shrouding
  progressive
• have been shrouding
  perfect progressive
• has been shrouding
  perfect progressive

Past

• shrouded
  simple
• had shrouded
  perfect
• was shrouding
  progressive
• were shrouding
  progressive
• had been shrouding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will shroud
  simple
• will have shrouded
  perfect
• will be shrouding
  progressive
• will have been shrouding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of shroud

before 1000; (noun) Middle English; Old English scrūd; cognate with Old Norse skrūth; akin to shred; (v.) Middle English shrouden, derivative of the noun; replacing Middle English shriden, Old English scrȳdan, derivative of scrūd

Explanation

Are the rules of calculus shrouded in mystery to you? The verb shroud means to hide or cover something or someone. The fog might shroud the valley, or that long-sleeved, ankle-length dress might shroud the tan you worked so hard on in Mexico over Christmas break. It used to be that corpses were dressed for burial not in person’s best outfit but in a shroud — a garment, often white, made to cover the body. When ghosts, zombies or mummies are depicted in rags, they are wearing the remains of their burial shrouds. If you should hide from them by covering yourself with an abandoned tarp, you will be shrouding yourself from sight.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shroud shrouds shrouded shrouding

In January, Banco Santander, Spain’s largest financial institution, moved to pull back the shroud of mystery that had enveloped the marquee collection.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

They spin a variety of amazing webs, from the typical orb web, with its hub-and-spoke pattern, to funnel-like tube webs and sheet webs that can drape over an entire landscape like a shroud.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

If no one came to identify her, the team would prepare a clean white shroud, wash her according to Muslim custom and bury her nearby.

From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026

Bodies are wrapped in a shroud of biodegradable material such as silk or wool before being placed in a pressurised chamber with hot water and chemicals, speeding up decomposition.

From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026

I turned my plastic shroud into a kilt and jumped from one foot to another on the chilly floor.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

Dozens of relatives and mourners gathered at Nasser Hospital, where the bodies of some of those killed were laid out in white shrouds.

From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 2026

Iranian state television released footage showing dozens of bodies in shrouds lined up inside and outside of a morgue near Tehran on Sunday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 13, 2026

The production design by Tamara Deverell is superb as are the costumes by Kate Hawley, who shrouds Goth in dramatic chiffon layers and dresses laced to highlight her vertebrae.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025

They are very graphic and show bodies lined up in the courtyard of a mosque, covered with shrouds and blankets.

From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2024

Behind loomed up the Buck Hill; and out of it, through stray shrouds of mist, shone many round windows, yellow and red.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

From afar, the Sagrada Família, shrouded in mist, appears otherworldly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

The couple's nuptials were shrouded in secrecy despite the event shutting down a part of New York City - the most populous city in the US.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

There’s something very powerful there: She’s demystifying a process that can still be shrouded in unnecessary secrecy, and making a choice many women have at least considered.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

The historic El Escorial monastery -- a major tourist attraction -- was shrouded in a grayish, smoke-filled mist.

From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026

“Gift for your mama,” said our shrouded captain.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

TORONTO—Hundreds of out-of-control wildfires are burning in Canada, shrouding skies there and the U.S. in an eerie yellow-gray haze and forcing the evacuation of dozens of communities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

And that patience was tested from the off on Thursday with low-lying cloud and fog shrouding the course.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

Later, I took a 20-minute drive to Al Sahab Park, a short distance outside Abha, crowded with people admiring the evening mist shrouding Jabal Soudah, the country’s highest peak at 9,892 feet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 28, 2025

She wrote that the government seemed to be concealing key information from the court and shrouding data in this studiously ambiguous language.

From Slate ● Oct. 31, 2025

Enrique can see stars around the ceiba trees shrouding the headstones.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Related Words

• cloak
• pall
• veil