shroud

American  

[shraud] / ʃraʊd /

noun

• shrouds
  plural

1. a cloth or sheet in which a corpse is wrapped for burial.

   Synonyms:

   winding sheet

2. something that covers or conceals like a garment.

   a shroud of rain.

3. Nautical. any of a number of taut ropes or wires converging from both sides on the head of a lower or upper mast of the outer end of a bowsprit to steady it against lateral sway: a part of the standing rigging.

4. Also called shroud line. Aeronautics. any of a number of suspension cords of a parachute attaching the load to the canopy.

5. Also called shrouding. Machinery.

   1. (on a nonmetallic gear) an extended metal rim enclosing the ends of the teeth on either side.

   2. (on a water wheel) one of two rings of boards or plates enclosing the buckets at their ends.

6. Rocketry. a cone-shaped shield that protects the payload of a launch vehicle.

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verb (used with object)

• shrouds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shrouded,
  past participle,  past
• shrouding
  present participle

1. to wrap or clothe for burial; enshroud.

2. to cover; hide from view.

   Synonyms:

   screen, conceal

3. to veil, as in obscurity or mystery.

   They shrouded their past lives in an effort to forget.

4. to provide (a water wheel) with a shroud.

5. Obsolete. to shelter.

verb (used without object)

• shrouds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shrouded,
  past participle,  past
• shrouding
  present participle

1. Archaic. to take shelter.

shroud British  

/ ʃraʊd /

noun

1. a garment or piece of cloth used to wrap a dead body

2. anything that envelops like a garment

   a shroud of mist

3. a protective covering for a piece of equipment

4. astronautics a streamlined protective covering used to protect the payload during a rocket-powered launch

5. nautical one of a pattern of ropes or cables used to stay a mast

6. any of a set of wire cables stretched between a smokestack or similar structure and the ground, to prevent side sway

7. Also called: shroud line. any of a set of lines running from the canopy of a parachute to the harness

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verb

1. (tr) to wrap in a shroud

2. (tr) to cover, envelop, or hide

3. archaic to seek or give shelter

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• shroudless
  adjective
• shroudlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• shrouds
  plural

Participles

• shrouding
  present
• shrouded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• shroud
  simple
• shrouds
  simple
• have shrouded
  perfect
• has shrouded
  perfect
• am shrouding
  progressive
• are shrouding
  progressive
• is shrouding
  progressive
• have been shrouding
  perfect progressive
• has been shrouding
  perfect progressive

Past

• shrouded
  simple
• had shrouded
  perfect
• was shrouding
  progressive
• were shrouding
  progressive
• had been shrouding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will shroud
  simple
• will have shrouded
  perfect
• will be shrouding
  progressive
• will have been shrouding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of shroud

before 1000; (noun) Middle English; Old English scrūd; cognate with Old Norse skrūth; akin to shred; (v.) Middle English shrouden, derivative of the noun; replacing Middle English shriden, Old English scrȳdan, derivative of scrūd

Explanation

Are the rules of calculus shrouded in mystery to you? The verb shroud means to hide or cover something or someone. The fog might shroud the valley, or that long-sleeved, ankle-length dress might shroud the tan you worked so hard on in Mexico over Christmas break. It used to be that corpses were dressed for burial not in person’s best outfit but in a shroud — a garment, often white, made to cover the body. When ghosts, zombies or mummies are depicted in rags, they are wearing the remains of their burial shrouds. If you should hide from them by covering yourself with an abandoned tarp, you will be shrouding yourself from sight.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shroud shrouds shrouded shrouding

Now, during high marmot season between May and July, blue, green and beige tarps shroud most cars at Mineral King, which sits below jagged Sierra Nevada peaks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

But that still left space for Kim to expand the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile program under a shroud of secrecy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

The situation leaves a shroud of uncertainty over the play-offs before the second leg.

From BBC ● May 12, 2026

If no one came to identify her, the team would prepare a clean white shroud, wash her according to Muslim custom and bury her nearby.

From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026

Grizzled and stoic, Gavril drew the shroud from over Yakov’s head.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

She feels cleansed by the sea and the fog that shrouds the world’s ugliness, and believes there is happiness to be salvaged from the wreckage of her past.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025

An AFP correspondent in Spin Boldak said they saw hundreds of people attending funerals on Thursday, including for children whose bodies were wrapped in white shrouds.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2025

The production design by Tamara Deverell is superb as are the costumes by Kate Hawley, who shrouds Goth in dramatic chiffon layers and dresses laced to highlight her vertebrae.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025

They are very graphic and show bodies lined up in the courtyard of a mosque, covered with shrouds and blankets.

From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2024

The shrouds turned to Sierra, seemed to stare at her for a moment, and then vanished.

From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older

"Our experiment provided the first empirical demonstration of a process that had previously been shrouded in controversy," Larrea summarizes.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 5, 2026

Tesla’s launch Thursday night was shrouded in mystery and closed to media.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

On Monday afternoon, low cloud shrouded the deep ravine, and the National Weather Service warned of more flooding with rain and thunderstorms in the forecast.

From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026

From afar, the Sagrada Família, shrouded in mist, appears otherworldly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

The cliffs got closer, and he could see the islet shrouded in a veil of slashing rain and gray sludge.

From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook

The overarching question shrouding the film is not, “Did they do it?” but rather, “So what if they did?”

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

Toiling around the clock, haggard Indonesian firefighters on Borneo island cannot keep up with the blazes devouring landscapes and shrouding communities in a cloying haze.

From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026

Then Levi’s went further, shrouding real-life signs at stores across the world.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026

Even then, Reagan was helped greatly by the restive climate stemming from the Watts riots, widespread campus unrest and voter fatigue shrouding the incumbent, Jerry Brown’s father, Edmund G. “Pat” Brown.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2025

They passed some boys swimming and clowning in the water, shrouding their words in laughter.

From "Sula" by Toni Morrison

Related Words

• cloak
• pall
• veil