uncover
Americanverb (used with object)
-
uncovers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
uncovered,
past participle, past
-
uncovering
present participle
-
to lay bare; disclose; reveal.
-
to remove the cover or covering from.
-
to remove a hat from (the head).
verb (used without object)
-
uncovers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
uncovered,
past participle, past
-
uncovering
present participle
-
to remove a cover or covering.
-
to take off one's hat or other head covering as a gesture of respect.
verb
-
(tr) to remove the cover, cap, top, etc, from
-
(tr) to reveal or disclose
to uncover a plot
-
to take off (one's head covering), esp as a mark of respect
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
uncoversimple
-
uncoverssimple
-
have uncoveredperfect
-
has uncoveredperfect
-
am uncoveringprogressive
-
are uncoveringprogressive
-
is uncoveringprogressive
-
have been uncoveringperfect progressive
-
has been uncoveringperfect progressive
Past
-
uncoveredsimple
-
had uncoveredperfect
-
was uncoveringprogressive
-
were uncoveringprogressive
-
had been uncoveringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of uncover
First recorded in 1250–1300, uncover is from the Middle English word uncoveren. See un- 2, cover
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:
Besides the main storyline and a dull, time-padding smuggling operation to uncover, there’s little to do for the rest of the Broken Lizard team: Paul Soter, Eric Stolhanske and Steve Emme.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Last month, the BBC filmed the start of the operation to uncover bodies in Sabra.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
University of Michigan scientists have used artificial intelligence to uncover a striking pattern in the evolution of Passeriformes, the vast bird group that includes most songbirds.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026
They found Homer, but it took weeks to uncover Langley, who had been crushed beneath one of his own towering piles.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
I wanted to learn things that no one else knew, uncover secrets through patient observation.
From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall
Ms. Saxbe uncovers clues about how maternal and paternal brains are restructured by childbirth, correlated to a “stronger attunement” with infants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
If the inspection uncovers major issues, that information can be used as leverage to either exit the contract or negotiate a lower price or other concessions.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 12, 2026
Research uncovers how our behaviors can influence cancer risk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
A conservator uncovers the shard, which bears an intense blue figure of a skylark — evidence, at least to the reader, that Alouette’s recipe endured, and a symbol of how both she and Sasha escaped.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026
The “essential unity of science,” as he described it, means that “an advance of the horizon of knowledge in any direction uncovers territory of all the sciences.”
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Archaeologists working at several sites in southern Africa have uncovered hundreds of unusual pieces of engraved ostrich eggshell.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
Investigators uncovered suspected fraud across other state programs, including autism services, housing aid and Medicaid.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
He quickly uncovered a bin bag wrapped in brown tape.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
"By combining these approaches, we uncovered a major shift in the identity and lineage of immune cells in the aging human brain's immune cells that gene expression data alone would not have revealed."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
Educated by surprises...Fort understood what Petra had often felt: There is much more to be uncovered about the world than most people think.
From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett
Hatton says the price paid reflects the time and resources that went into uncovering the specimen.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
By uncovering this natural "mix and match" system and reproducing its underlying principles in the laboratory, the researchers have established a new strategy for designing future cancer therapies.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
At one point, Weist describes uncovering that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani maintained a fine-art photography practice while simultaneously waging a highly public censorship battle against the Brooklyn Museum.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
That previous study, entitled “The Level and Persistence of Growth Rates,” found that “the odds of an investor successfully uncovering the next stellar growth stock are about the same as correctly calling coin tosses.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
They scooped out nests in the straw, uncovering one of Medwyn’s breakfast guests curled up and fast asleep.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
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.
