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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

Etymology

Origin of cover-up

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cover-up cover up cover-ups

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

What started as an innocent mistake has ended up as a bad cover-up.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026

But moviegoers won’t soon forget her impressive turn, communicating the stakes of a massive cover-up that sought to prevent the knowledge of aliens walking among humanity for decades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

George Osborne, the museum's chair of trustees, told me it was a "pretty elaborate cover-up job".

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026

A lie’s a cover-up every time, it’s something a man says when he don’t want the truth out.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

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

Now the 38-year-old from Little Hulton has branched out to paint other popular cartoon characters - including from The Simpsons and Tom and Jerry - to cover up swear words.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

You had to cover up one eye with a little piece of paper and read the letters on a chart, and then cover up the other eye and read them again.

From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said she is confident disagreements with campaigners over a new law designed to stop cover-ups can be resolved before it returns to Parliament on Monday.

From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2026

Families bereaved by the Manchester Arena bombing say MI5 failed them and must be fully included in a new law designed to stop cover-ups in public life.

From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2026

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

From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2025

These captured the world's imagination, attracting journalists from around the globe and leading to claims of conspiracies, cover-ups and cheap publicity stunts.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2025

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

From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2025

Related Words

• complicity
• conspiracy
• evasion