(~s)
1.
A ~ is a piece of thin soft cloth that women sometimes wear over their heads and which can also cover their face.
She’s got long fair hair but she’s got a ~ over it...
N-COUNT
2.
You can refer to something that hides or partly hides a situation or activity as a ~.
The country is ridding itself of its disgraced prime minister in a ~ of secrecy...
The chilling facts behind this ~ of silence were slow to emerge.
N-COUNT: usu sing, N of n
3.
You can refer to something that you can partly see through, for example a mist, as a ~. (LITERARY)
The eruption has left a thin ~ of dust in the upper atmosphere...
= haze
N-COUNT: oft N of n
4.
If you draw a ~ over something, you stop talking about it because it is too unpleasant to talk about.
The clamour to draw a ~ over the minister’s extra-marital activities reeks of hypocrisy.
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n