take cover

1. Seek protection, find a hiding place, as in It started to pour so we took cover under the trees, or He wanted to avoid the reporters so we said he could take cover in our summer cottage. This term uses cover in the sense of “shelter” or “concealment,” a usage dating from the 1400s.

Example Sentences

Asked what Chicago residents should do in case of attack, the state’s civil defense director said, “Take cover and pray.”

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“Drop down to the ground. Take cover underneath a sturdy object like a table. And hold on until all the shaking has stopped,” Wendy Bohon, branch chief of seismic hazards and earthquake engineering at the California Geological Survey, said in a recent social media video.

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It was the second day of youth-led protests, triggered by anger over persistent power and water shortages, and Ms Edmondine's daughter-in-law ran into a nearby building with other protesters to take cover.

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Huang, 38, has discussed with her children how to handle various emergencies, including what to do if they run out of food and water in the mountains, and where to take cover during an earthquake.

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In Dnipropetrovsk, Governor Serhiy Lysak said the region was "under massive attack" overnight as he warned people to take cover.

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Related Words

• bury 
• camouflage 
• cover 
• disguise 
• hole up 
• mask 
• obscure 
• plant 
• protect 
• shelter 
• shield 
• smuggle 
• stash 
• suppress 
• tuck away 
• withhold