shroud

[shroud]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR shroud ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

something that covers or conceals like a garment: a shroud of rain.

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.

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

Also called shroud·ing. Machinery.

(on a nonmetallic gear) an extended metal rim enclosing the ends of the teeth on either side.
(on a water wheel) one of two rings of boards or plates enclosing the buckets at their ends.

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

verb (used with object)

to wrap or clothe for burial; enshroud.

to cover; hide from view.

to veil, as in obscurity or mystery: They shrouded their past lives in an effort to forget.

to provide (a water wheel) with a shroud.

Obsolete. to shelter.

verb (used without object)

Archaic. to take shelter.

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

Related formsshroud·less, adjectiveshroud·like, adjective

Synonyms for shroud

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR shroud ON THESAURUS.COM

1. winding sheet. 8. conceal, screen.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for shroud

veil, cloak, pall, envelope, sheet, garment, dress, screen, cover, shelter, shade, wrap, vault, shadow, clothing, cerement, cerecloth

Examples from the Web for shroud

Contemporary Examples of shroud

The shawl, we learn, weaves its way through Mexican life, from its use as a baby carrier to a shroud used to bury the dead.
Shining a Spotlight on Mexico’s Iconic Textile—the Rebozo
Liza Foreman
June 16, 2014
The most famous ones are the Mandylion of Edessa, the Veronica and the Shroud of Turin.
Self-portraits with Buzz
Blake Gopnik
June 28, 2012
Indeed, the Shroud is as difficult to understand, in its way, as the Resurrection.
The Shroud of Turin and Thomas de Wesselow’s ‘The Sign.’
Thomas de Wesselow
April 3, 2012
Overall, the 1988 carbon-dating has made little difference to sindonology (as study of the Shroud is known).
The Shroud of Turin and Thomas de Wesselow’s ‘The Sign.’
Thomas de Wesselow
April 3, 2012
Ultimately, it is worry about what the Shroud might mean that determines its rejection by modern rationalists.
The Shroud of Turin and Thomas de Wesselow’s ‘The Sign.’
Thomas de Wesselow
April 3, 2012

Historical Examples of shroud

And yet the idea cleaves to me strangely, and is liable to stick to my shroud.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
The skirt of her shroud hung like a wet weed in the falling torrent.
Wilfrid Cumbermede
George MacDonald
They are mere ghosts, their skeletons wrapped in a shroud of whitewash.
Byzantine Churches in Constantinople
Alexander Van Millingen
Rauff speaks of a woman of Bohemia, who, in 1355, had eaten in her grave half her shroud.
The Phantom World
Augustin Calmet
Many women veil and shroud their heads in black as she does.
The Treasure Trail
Marah Ellis Ryan

British Dictionary definitions for shroud

shroud

noun

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

anything that envelops like a garmenta shroud of mist

a protective covering for a piece of equipment

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

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

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

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

verb

(tr) to wrap in a shroud

(tr) to cover, envelop, or hide

archaic to seek or give shelter

Derived Formsshroudless, adjective

Word Origin for shroud

Old English scrūd garment; related to Old Norse skrūth gear

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for shroud

Old English scrud "a garment, clothing, dress," from West Germanic *skruthan, from Proto-Germanic *skrud- "cut" (cf. Old Norse skruð "shrouds of a ship, tackle, gear; furniture of a church," Danish, Swedish skrud "dress, attire"), from PIE *skreu- "to cut" (see shred (n.)).

Specific meaning "winding-sheet, cloth or sheet for burial," to which the word now is restricted, first attested 1560s. Sense of "strong rope supporting the mast of a ship" (mid-15c.) is from the notion of "clothing" a spar or mast; one without rigging was said to be naked.

c.1300, "to clothe, to cover, protect," from Old English scrydan, scridan "to clothe, dress;" see shroud (n.). Meaning "to hide from view, conceal" (transitive) is attested from early 15c. Related: Shrouded; shrouding.