cove

¹ American  

[kohv] / koʊv /

noun

1. a small indentation or recess in the shoreline of a sea, lake, or river.

2. a sheltered nook.

3. a hollow or recess in a mountain; cave; cavern.

4. a narrow pass between woods or hills.

5. a sheltered area between woods or hills.

6. Architecture.

   1. a concave surface or molding.

   2. a concave surface forming part of a ceiling at its edge so as to eliminate the usual interior angle between the wall and ceiling.

---

verb (used with or without object)

coved, coving

1. to make or become a cove.

cove ² American  

[kohv] / koʊv /

noun

1. British Slang. a person; fellow.

2. Australian Slang. a manager, especially of a sheep station.

---

cove ¹ British  

/ kəʊv /

noun

1. a small bay or inlet, usually between rocky headlands

2. a narrow cavern formed in the sides of cliffs, mountains, etc, usually by erosion

3. a sheltered place

4. Also called: coving.  architect a concave curved surface between the wall and ceiling of a room

---

verb

1. (tr) to form an architectural cove in

cove ² British  

/ kəʊv /

noun

1. old-fashioned a fellow; chap

2. history an overseer of convict labourers

---

Etymology

Origin of cove¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English cofa “cave, den, closet”; cognate with Old Norse kofi “hut,” Greek gýpē “cave”

Origin of cove²

First recorded in 1560–70; of uncertain origin; perhaps from Romani kova “creature, thing, person”

Explanation

A cove is a small, sheltered part of an ocean's coast. A cove can be a good place to put a sea kayak in the water and start paddling along the shore. A cove is basically the same thing as a "bay," but smaller. Coves are protected coastal areas affected by tides and connected to the open sea by a narrow entrance. The water in a cove is calmer than the open ocean, and the cove itself is often oval or circular in shape. The earliest meaning of cove was "den or cave," and later "small bay," probably influenced by a Scottish meaning of the word, "hollow place in coastal rocks."

Example Sentences

The ceiling cove, once green, has been returned to its original white color.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026

The croc was independent and apparently a “confirmed bachelor,” a characteristic he made clear “during his earlier years at a crocodile farm,” the cove said.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2024

Kenzie said his belongings had been found by police and coastguard at a cove accessed by boat.

From BBC • Nov. 2, 2024

With an approaching storm threatening hurricane-force winds, the Allankay abandons the krill fleet and finds shelter in a quiet cove protected by the craggy rim of a still active underwater volcano.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 13, 2023

But this is simply the way it was—the way it was over tens of thousands of square miles of hill and cove, from the Carolinas to New England.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson