n. & v.
n. 1 a sheetlike garment for wrapping a corpse for burial. 2 anything that conceals like a shroud (wrapped in a shroud of mystery). 3 (in pl.) Naut. a set of ropes forming part of the standing rigging and supporting the mast or topmast.
v.tr. 1 clothe (a body) for burial. 2 cover, conceal, or disguise (hills shrouded in mist). shroud-laid (of a rope) having four strands laid right-handed on a core. shroudless adj.
[ OE scrud f. Gmc: see SHRED ]