hide
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to conceal from sight; prevent from being seen or discovered.
Where did she hide her jewels?
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to obstruct the view of; cover up.
The sun was hidden by the clouds.
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to conceal from knowledge or exposure; keep secret.
to hide one's feelings.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb phrase
noun
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the pelt or skin of one of the larger animals (cow, horse, buffalo, etc.), raw or dressed.
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Informal.
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the skin of a human being.
Get out of here or I'll tan your hide!
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safety or welfare.
He's only worried about his own hide.
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Australia and New Zealand Informal. impertinence; impudence.
verb (used with object)
-
Informal. to administer a beating to; thrash.
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to protect (a rope, as a boltrope of a sail) with a covering of leather.
idioms
noun
verb
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to put or keep (oneself or an object) in a secret place; conceal (oneself or an object) from view or discovery
to hide a pencil
to hide from the police
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(tr) to conceal or obscure
the clouds hid the sun
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(tr) to keep secret
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(tr) to turn (one's head, eyes, etc) away
noun
noun
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the skin of an animal, esp the tough thick skin of a large mammal, either tanned or raw
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informal the human skin
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informal impudence
verb
noun
Synonym Usage
Hide, conceal, secrete mean to put out of sight or in a secret place. Hide is the general word: to hide one's money or purpose; A dog hides a bone. Conceal, somewhat more formal, is to cover from sight: A rock concealed them from view. Secrete means to put away carefully, in order to keep secret: The spy secreted the important papers.
See skin.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hide1
First recorded before 900; Middle English hiden, Old English hȳdan; cognate with Old Frisian hūda; akin to Greek keúthein “to hide”; see also hide 2 ( def. )
Origin of hide2
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hȳd; cognate with Dutch huid, Old Norse hūth, Danish, Swedish hud, Old High German hūt ( German Haut ); akin to Latin cutis “skin,” Greek kýtos “hollow, container”; see also cutis, hide 1
Origin of hide3
First recorded before 900; Middle English hide, Old English hīd(e), hīg(i)d “portion of land, family,” from Germanic hīwidō; akin to Latin cīvis “citizen,” Greek keîsthai “to lie down, rest, remain, abide”
Explanation
You can hide your feelings or you can hide your mom’s birthday present. You can even hide yourself if you need to avoid someone. Whatever it is, when you hide something, you put it out of sight. Hide can mean that you keep something secret, like the way you really feel about your dad’s meatloaf. You can also hide something physical. If you spill juice on your white sofa, you can hide the stain with a pillow. Sometimes people hide also — that means the person stays out of sight. A bankrobber will hide from the police, or you might hide from your mom to avoid doing the dishes.
Vocabulary lists containing hide
Easter Vocabulary
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"We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar
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"When Cultures Meet"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This week, Root made no attempt to hide his frustration at "stupid mistakes".
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
But he’s just singing better than ever — the falsetto wouldn’t hide flaws, it would just emphasize them.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
Traditional bulk blood analysis measures average activity across a mixture of many cells, which can hide important differences in the behavior of specific cell types.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court said Hui and Evergrande entities had carried out sustained and large-scale financial fraud between 2016 and 2021 to inflate assets and hide liabilities, according to the report.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
‘If the rowan leaves and the pouch couldn’t hide the river eyes,’ he said, ‘why do you think bark and wormwood can do any better?’
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
The suspects allegedly fled to Mexico, where they hid for months, authorities said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
"Meta said it put safety over profits, but hid the reality that, time and again, when it came to make a decision, profits won."
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
The law requires the Parole Board to take into consideration a killer's refusal to disclose where they hid their victim's body.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Just a few feet away, the man she hired more than three years ago to handle her naturalization case hid in his office, seemingly avoiding her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
The long dress made Kate look more mature, and hid more of her body.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
The show, which will launch next year, will follow the familiar format of love-seeking contestants choosing between three potential suitors who are hidden behind a wall.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
According to Dulli, the title came from a running list of possible titles he keeps on his phone, and isn’t meant as a hidden layer of meaning.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
“It’s a hidden location, like it’s way up a hill, so we didn’t get the foot traffic we usually would have. And it was way too short of notice.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
The answer is hidden in plain sight: human physical health.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
“There are other things out there besides trolls. Just beyond the gates, a little ways in The Eastern Woods, I’ve actually hidden a stash of gold.”
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
The moment the sound of raucous singing had hided around the corner, he slipped out of the gate and ran in the opposite direction.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
"The landlord," added the speaker in his imperfect English, "has entirely hided himself from the Page 30 business."
From The Foundations of Japan Notes Made During Journeys Of 6,000 Miles In The Rural Districts As A Basis For A Sounder Knowledge Of The Japanese People by J.W. Robertson Scott
Sometimes they hided her for an hour together.
From The House of the Dead or Prison Life in Siberia with an introduction by Julius Bramont by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Ve let it stay hided in der cave undil dis drouble is all over und den it vill be easy to get it avay from der island, yoost so quiet.
From The Man from Brodney's by George Barr McCutcheon
"She's hided, and we can't find her anywhere," repeated Zaidee.
From Cricket at the Seashore by Harriet Roosevelt Richards
Overlooked in his comments was an Easter egg hiding in plain sight: his use of “their” in reference to Air Force One.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
The idea is to use mRNA to train the immune system to recognize tumor mutations and hunt down and kill cancer cells hiding around the body.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Two months later, an armed man was arrested in Florida after US Secret Service agents spotted him hiding in the trees near where Trump was playing golf.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
However, the judge ordered Meta limit push notifications and usage to 90 hours a month, around three-hours daily on average, for users under age 18, in addition to hiding "like counts."
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
She’d been hiding in there, as any fool could see.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
