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:
“It feels like they’re trying to hide behind the norms that have been created in vulnerability disclosure for this, which is a very different problem,” Cable said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
But observing planets during these earliest stages is extremely difficult because thick dust can hide them from view.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
Among other worrying instances, OpenAI said one of its models during training added instructions to those summaries to hide mistakes or “misaligned behavior” from the user.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
Anthrax is caused by a bacteria called Bacillus anthracis, which largely survives as spores that hide away in soil for years before entering an animal through inhalation or a cut or wound.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
A fact I’d made sure to hide from Callaway just in case he decided our extra training was too much and changed his mind.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Someone had apparently used the secret key Roebuck hid near the workshop door.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
In July, an OpenAI model altered its mission, hid and broke out of its digital confines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
The store never had customer traffic, so U.S. law enforcement suspected it hid a tunnel and began monitoring the business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
But in most of those earlier cases, presidents at least hid behind principle.
From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2026
Panda-suited scientists hid behind trees and watched as a curious Tao Tao ventured over to investigate.
From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh
The couple had a hidden landline phone on their kitchen wall.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
It does not care whether it was hidden or disrespected, whether you craved it or merely added it, whether the broccoli arrived under a glossy blanket of cheese.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
At the same time, the Tudeh had set up an underground military network with access to hidden weapons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Until now, many of the items have remained hidden within the building's infrastructure.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Another time, she has a message hidden in her braided black hair.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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
She hided my hat—Lina did; but if I'd gone home, straight home, and not gone to her house, then she couldn't have hided it.
From Dotty Dimple at Play by Sophie May
But he added, in conjugal privacy, that David ought to be hided for not turning his hand to something.
From Dr. Lavendar's People by Margaret Wade Campbell Deland
She has never had a downright bad attack, like this one, therefore we could hide it from the servants and from Miss Annabel, but it couldn't be hided from him.
From The Story of Charles Strange Vol. 2 (of 3) A Novel by Mrs. Henry Wood
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
The restaurant is also available for private-dining bookings with a room that can instantly tint its glass, hiding diners with the flip of a switch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
She does not know if he is in hiding, or if he has been detained or killed.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
In his plea, Max acknowledged bartering art for real estate and hiding income to buy real estate in Southampton, New York, the US Virgin Islands and upstate New York.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
That can include a model hiding a mistake, acting without permission or working around a safeguard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
The woman told us how she had followed the soldiers all day, hiding behind trees and buildings, until finally they went home.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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.
