a soft or flexible covering for the head and neck, either separate or attached to a cloak, coat, or the like.
something resembling or suggesting such a covering, especially in shape, as certain petals or sepals.
the hinged, movable part of an automobile body covering the engine.
British. the roof of a carriage.
a metal cover or canopy for a stove, ventilator, etc.
Falconry. a cover for the entire head of a hawk, used when the bird is not in pursuit of game.
an ornamental ruffle or fold on the back of the shoulders of an academic gown, jurist's robe, etc.
a crest or band of color on the head of certain birds and animals.
to furnish with a hood.
to cover with or as if with a hood.
John Bell, 1831–79, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.
Raymond Mathewson 1881–1934, U.S. architect.
Robin. Robin Hood.
Thomas, 1799–1845, English poet and humorist.
Mount, a volcanic peak in N Oregon, in the Cascade Range. 11,253 feet (3,430 meters).
a loose head covering either attached to a cloak or coat or made as a separate garment
something resembling this in shape or use
the US and Canadian name for bonnet
the folding roof of a convertible car
a hoodlike garment worn over an academic gown, indicating its wearer's degree and university
falconry a close-fitting cover, placed over the head and eyes of a falcon to keep it quiet when not hunting
biology a structure or marking, such as the fold of skin on the head of a cobra, that covers or appears to cover the head or some similar part
See Robin Hood
Samuel, 1st Viscount. 1724–1816, British admiral. He fought successfully against the French during the American Revolution and the French Revolutionary Wars
Thomas. 1799–1845, British poet and humorist: his work includes protest poetry, such as The Song of the Shirt (1843) and The Bridge of Sighs (1844)
indicating state or condition of being
manhood
adulthood
indicating a body of persons
knighthood
priesthood
What does -hood mean? The suffix -hood is used to indicate “a state of being” or "a group of a particular characteristic or class." It is often used in a variety of technical and everyday terms. The form -hood comes from Old English hād, meaning “condition” or “rank.” Similar suffixes in Latin include -itās and -tūdō, both of which indicate a state of being and are the sources of the English suffixes -ity and -tude. Check out our entries for both suffixes to learn how frequently they appear.
First recorded before 900, in 1925–30 hood 1 for def. 3 (an Americanism); Middle English hode, Old English hōd; cognate with Old Frisian hōde, Dutch hoed, German Hut hat
First recorded in 1925–30; by shortening
First recorded in 1965–70; African American Vernacular English; by shortening
Middle English -hode, -hod, Old English -hād (cognate with German -heit ), special use of hād condition, state, order, quality, rank
A hood is a protective covering. It could be a car hood protecting the engine or your car or it could be the hood on your coat protecting your noggin. Your favorite sweatshirt might have a hood, as well as your fur-lined winter coat and your insulated hood for scuba diving. Other things with a similar protective quality are also called hoods, like the metal vent cover over your stove, the cover on your car's engine, and the cap-like plant sections that cover vulnerable parts. One of the most famous hoods in literature is the red one worn by the main character in "Little Red Riding Hood."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Echoing that signature yellow hue: a walnut island, a hammered barrel-vaulted copper hood, a copper farmhouse sink and replicated 1920s cabinetry painted “Matchstick” by Farrow & Ball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Yet recent signs point to another shift taking place under the hood of the stock market.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
“If people looked under the hood at how we do this, they would think we’re crazy,” said CEO Luca Ferrari.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
It also says never to buy a baby sleeping bag with a hood or without armholes, or one with excess material or attachments, and to make sure to buy the right size sleeping bag.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Her hair was gray, sticking out in strings from under her hood.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
Especially when it includes delightful footage of Scorsese hanging out with old friends from the ’hood and historic interviews with his parents, especially one in which his mother, Catherine, makes meatballs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025
As an actor, writer and director, he became a powerful figure in the British film industry for making movies including the 'hood series - Kidulthood, Adulthood and Brotherhood.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2025
“I’m not even in the ghetto. I’m not in the ‘hood.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 27, 2023
"They Cloned Tyrone," directed and co-written by Juel Taylor, is a futuristic 'hood mystery based around a white and white-adjacent corporate agenda to control the Black community through fried chicken, drugs and perms.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2023
When rap was born, the early rap stars were not rapping about gangsta life, but “My Adidas” and good times in the ’hood in tunes like “Rapper’s Delight.”
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
July 1991: The two men first met after Gates’s mother asked her son to meet a group of friends at the Gates’s vacation home on Hood Canal in Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
In May, Hegseth abruptly canceled the nine-month rotation of an armored brigade to Poland from Fort Hood, Texas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
Hood said the price may set a new standard for AAA or big-budget games.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
Freelance video games journalist Vic Hood said each entry in the series "continued to push technical and gameplay boundaries", with GTA Online helping to "pioneer the live service model as we know it".
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
I follow them to a playroom in the back, where there’s a pink fuzzy throne, lime-green chairs, jeweled crowns, Robin Hood hats, and stuffed dinosaurs.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
When joined together, the h- of the -hood is put in immediate apposition with the s of the monks-.
From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
One running gag involves the hotel’s irritation at the nearby goats who trample on the hoods of parked cars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
A Public Space Protection Order has been imposed at Chelmsley Wood to stop gatherings of young people and to require the removal of masks and hoods.
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2025
Police officers wore hoods and were heavily armed.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2025
They stood atop stone walls, car hoods, rooftops, on hills upon hills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
Their hoods are thrown back, revealing their unsettlingly stark features, and, led by Cain, they ghost across the grass and form a half circle around the Commandant’s dais.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
We open in a post-apocalyptic Pasadena, following a hooded character through a dark landscape of burned out cars and mutant distractions to Stuart’s somehow still-open comic book store.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
It opened with a lone hooded figure running onto the stage holding a red flare as fans chanted "BTS, BTS, BTS".
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
Wearing an ill-fitting hooded sweatshirt, with gray stubbles and baggy eyes, he didn’t look like a typical upscale tourist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
In May, the father of a man who ran a Malta-based cryptocurrency company was kidnapped by four hooded men in Paris.
From Barron's ● Feb. 8, 2026
In the light of my headlamp I saw that his hooded face was a ghostly white.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
The upper tends to address hooding and volume loss of the eyelid, while the lower focuses on puffiness and dark circles or hollowing under the eye, says Dr. Flora Levin, a Connecticut-based oculoplastic surgeon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026
Zhang, an award-winning author of “How Much of These Hills Is Gold” and “Land of Milk and Honey,” was scheduled to speak at the May 8 education school doctoral hooding ceremony.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2024
She attended a Baptist pastor’s hooding ceremony, a public event for a Japanese sister city, and a luau held by a local nonprofit’s C.E.O.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 12, 2019
The army general who ran UK military operations during the Iraq war has said he did not know about a 1972 ruling banning the hooding of detainees.
From BBC ● May 18, 2010
Jon went from one mews to another, hooding each occupant and carrying it to his tour van.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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.
