cloak

[ klohk ]

noun

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.

   Synonyms: veil, mask, cover

verb (used with object)

1. to cover with or as if with a cloak:

   She arrived at the opera cloaked in green velvet.

2. to hide; conceal:

   The mission was cloaked in mystery.

cloak

/ kləʊk /

noun

1. a wraplike outer garment fastened at the throat and falling straight from the shoulders
2. something that covers or conceals

verb

1. to cover with or as if with a cloak
2. to hide or disguise

Other Words From

• cloakless adjective
• under·cloak noun
• well-cloaked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cloak¹

1175–1225; Middle English cloke (< Old French ) < Medieval Latin cloca, variant of clocca bell-shaped cape, bell; clock ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of cloak¹

C13: from Old French cloque, from Medieval Latin clocca cloak, bell; referring to the bell-like shape

Example Sentences

Skyline Arch doubled in size after dislodging a hefty boulder in 1940, Landscape Arch belched up some of its innards in front of surprised onlookers in 1991, and Wall Arch disintegrated under the cloak of darkness in 2008.

From Outside Online

Unfortunately, Section 230 has been often misused by big tech to do the absolute bare minimum and then hide behind a cloak of liability protection.

From Digiday

Regulators face questions about whether the apparently amateur trading crowd’s activities amounted to illegal market manipulation — and if sophisticated professionals used the cloak of online anonymity to stoke the frenzy.

From Washington Post

Over time, this slow burial of organic matter accumulated into storage strata of ancient sunlight, well hidden in the dark cloak of carbon.

From Nautilus

That engulfing mucus might also work as an invisibility cloak.

From Science News

Some have innocuous-seeming URLs like cardpool.com or giftcardgranny.com, which cloak the sinister operations.

From The Daily Beast

This is the conspiratorial mind using skepticism as a cloak for intellectual laziness.

From The Daily Beast

But there is something to be learned by the cloak-and-dagger world from Yousef and Ben Yitzhak.

From The Daily Beast

Among the 50 new works included is a shawl made of used tea bags that resembles a ceremonial cloak.

From The Daily Beast

Arm people with a cloak of anonymity and a shield of non-accountability, and watch the cavalcade of crazy charge.

From The Daily Beast

On this errand he departed, wrapped tightly in his cloak, walking briskly through the now heavier rain.

From Project Gutenberg

As she spoke, she moved very slightly, letting her cloak fall open so that her long throat was exposed.

From Project Gutenberg

He dashed up to the drawing-room; his wife was coming forth then, her cloak and gloves on, her fan in her hand.

From Project Gutenberg

Rallying himself somewhat, he laid his hand upon the white cloak covering her shoulders.

From Project Gutenberg

On their entrance into the church, a brownish-red silk cloak, which concealed the whole of the uniform, was presented to each.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• camouflage
• mantle
• mask
• shawl
• veneer