I. cov ‧ er 1 S1 W1 /ˈkʌvə $ -ər/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ cover , ↑ coverage , ↑ covering ; adjective : ↑ undercover , ↑ covered ≠ UNCOVERED ; verb : ↑ cover ≠ ↑ uncover ; adverb : ↑ undercover ]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: covrir , from Latin cooperire , from co- ( ⇨ ↑ co- ) + operire 'to close, cover' ]
1 . HIDE/PROTECT ( also cover up ) to put something over or be over something in order to hide, close, or protect it:
Cover the pot and bake for an hour.
She wore a low-cut dress, partly covered by a thin shawl.
cover something with something
Dan covered his face with his hands.
2 . LAYER if something covers a surface, it forms a layer over it:
Grey mould covered the walls.
Much of the country is covered by snow.
cover something with/in something
The bulletin board was covered with messages.
The eruption of the volcano covered states as far away as Montana in a fine layer of ash.
3 . INCLUDE to include or deal with a particular subject or group of things:
a course covering business law
Are there any areas you feel are not covered adequately in the book?
‘Exercise’ is a word which covers a vast range of activities.
We need more time to cover so much ground (=include so many things) .
pollutants that are not covered by the Kyoto agreement
4 . DISTANCE to travel a particular distance:
They were hoping to cover 40 miles yesterday.
A leopard can cover a lot of ground very quickly.
5 . AREA to spread over an area:
The city covers 25 square miles.
6 . NEWS to report the details of an event for a newspaper or a television or radio programme:
I’d just returned from covering the Cambodian war.
7 . MONEY if a sum of money covers the cost of something, it is enough to pay for it:
The award should be enough to cover her tuition fees.
Airlines are raising fares to cover the rising costs of fuel.
8 . INSURANCE if your insurance covers you or your possessions, it promises to pay you money if you have an accident, something is stolen etc:
Most policies cover accidental damage to pipes.
The treatment wasn’t covered by her health care insurance.
cover somebody against/for something
Are we covered for theft?
cover somebody to do something
He thought he was covered to drive the vehicle.
9 . GUNS
a) to protect someone by being ready to shoot anyone who attacks them:
I’ll make for the door – cover me, will you?
b) to aim a gun at a person or a place where people might be, in order to prevent them from moving or escaping:
He stepped into the doorway and swung the gun up to cover the corridor.
10 . SPORT to stay close to a member of the opposing team or a part of the field in order to prevent your opponents from gaining points
11 . MUSIC to perform or record a song that was originally recorded by another artist:
They’ve covered several hits from the 1980s.
12 . cover (all) the bases to make sure you can deal with any situation or problem so that nothing bad happens:
Parents are already stressed trying to cover the bases at home and at work.
13 . cover yourself (against something) ( also cover your back , cover your butt/ass American English ) to do things in a way that will prevent people from blaming or criticizing you:
Doctors are concerned to cover themselves against charges of negligence.
He copied Stella in on the email just to cover his back.
14 . cover your tracks to try to hide something you have done so that other people do not find out:
He started to destroy documents to cover his tracks.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ cover ( also cover up ) to put something over, on, or around something else, to hide it, protect it, or improve its appearance:
Cover the dough, and leave it to rise.
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She wears a lot of make-up to cover her spots.
▪ put something over something to put a cloth, blanket etc loosely over the top of something in order to cover it:
They gave him a blanket to put over his legs.
▪ wrap ( also wrap up ) to put paper, plastic, cloth etc tightly around something in order to protect, decorate, or post it:
I haven’t wrapped her birthday present yet.
▪ envelop literary to surround something completely so that it is difficult to see – used especially about darkness, smoke, and clouds:
At sunset, darkness enveloped the town.
▪ be shrouded in mist/darkness/smoke etc literary to be covered and hidden in mist, smoke etc:
The mountains were shrouded in mist.
cover for somebody phrasal verb
1 . to do the work that someone else usually does, because they are not there:
Who’s covering for you while you’re away?
2 . to prevent someone from getting into trouble by lying for them, especially about where they are or what they are doing
cover something ↔ over phrasal verb
to put something on top of something else so that it is completely hidden:
The female lays a single egg and covers it over.
cover up phrasal verb
1 . cover something ↔ up to put something over something else so that it cannot be seen:
Her legs were so swollen she had to cover them up.
2 . cover something ↔ up to prevent people from discovering mistakes or unpleasant facts ⇨ whitewash :
The affair was covered up and never reached the papers.
Mum’s worried, but she covers it up by joking.
⇨ ↑ cover-up
3 . cover up for somebody to protect someone by hiding unpleasant facts about them:
They covered up for Kirk by refusing to answer any questions.
4 . to put clothes, ↑ blanket s etc over yourself in order to protect or hide your body, or to keep yourself warm:
Cover up, or stay out of the sun.
cover yourself up
Hastily, she covered herself up with the towel.
II. cover 2 S1 W2 BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ cover , ↑ coverage , ↑ covering ; adjective : ↑ undercover , ↑ covered ≠ UNCOVERED ; verb : ↑ cover ≠ ↑ uncover ; adverb : ↑ undercover ]
1 . PROTECTION [countable] something that is put on top of something else to protect it ⇨ lid :
a blue duvet cover
a plastic cover
A dust cover (=to keep dirt etc off) hung over the painting.
2 . BOOKS [countable] the outer front or back part of a magazine, book etc:
His photo’s on the cover of ‘Newsweek’ again.
front/back cover
an advertisement on the back cover
I read the magazine from cover to cover (=all of it) .
cover photo/shot/picture (=picture on the front cover)
The cover shot was of three guys in army kit.
3 . BED the covers [plural] the sheets etc that you put over yourself when you are in bed:
The covers had slipped off in the night.
4 . SHELTER [uncountable] shelter or protection from bad weather or attack
run/dive for cover
He was shot in the head as he ran for cover.
We were forced to take cover in a barn.
Three soldiers broke cover (=left the place where they were hiding) .
5 . INSURANCE [uncountable] British English the protection insurance gives you, so that it pays you money if you are injured, something is stolen etc SYN coverage American English :
medical cover
cover against/for
cover against fire and theft
6 . WAR [uncountable] military protection and support given to aircraft, ships etc that are likely to be attacked:
fighters used as cover for ground troops
7 . PLANTS [uncountable] trees and plants that grow in large numbers on a piece of land:
Once the forest cover is felled, rains wash away the soil.
With its spreading stems, ivy makes good ground cover.
8 . WEATHER [uncountable] clouds, snow etc that partly hide the sky or the ground
cloud/snow/fog etc cover
Cloud cover in the morning should clear later.
9 . WORK [uncountable] an arrangement in which people do a job or provide a service, especially because the people who normally do it are not there ⇨ backup :
It’s your responsibility to arrange adequate cover for holiday periods.
night-time ambulance cover
10 . MUSIC [countable] ( also cover version ) a new recording of a song, piece of music etc that was originally recorded by a different artist:
She’s opted to do a cover version for her first single.
11 . SECRET [countable usually singular] behaviour or activities that seem normal or honest but are being used to hide something bad or illegal
cover for
The gang used the shop as a cover for drug deals.
All that toughness is just a cover for his inability to show affection.
12 . under cover
a) pretending to be someone else in order to do something secretly:
She was working under cover to get information on drug gangs.
b) under a roof or other structure:
The aircraft is displayed under cover in the USAF Gallery.
13 . under (the) cover of darkness/night literary hidden by the darkness of night:
They escaped under cover of darkness.
14 . under plain cover/under separate cover if a letter etc is sent under plain cover or under separate cover, it is sent in a plain envelope or a separate envelope:
The bill will be sent to you later under separate cover.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + cover
▪ the front/back cover
The price of the book is on the back cover.
▪ a hard/soft cover
I never buy books in hard cover – they’re much more expensive.
▪ a book/magazine cover
There was a blonde girl on the magazine cover.
■ cover + NOUN
▪ a cover story (=the main story on the front of a newspaper or magazine)
Last month’s cover story was entitled ‘Your Child’s Brain’.
▪ a cover photo/shot (=picture on the front cover)
The picture became the July 4th cover shot.
▪ a cover design
the cover design of the Christmas issue
▪ a cover girl (=an attractive girl whose photo is on the front cover)
She had always liked the idea of being a cover girl.
■ phrases
▪ read something from cover to cover (=read a book, magazine etc very thoroughly)
He read it from cover to cover in less than three hours.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ cover something that is put on or over something else to protect it, for example a piece of metal, plastic, or glass:
a manhole cover
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the cover that goes over the barbecue
▪ covering a layer of something, or a sheet of something, that covers something else:
There was light covering of snow on the ground.
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The hard shell acts as a protective covering.
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the cloth coverings on the altar
▪ lid a cover for a container such as a pan or a box:
the lid of the box
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a saucepan lid
▪ top/cap the thing that you put on top of a bottle, tube, or pen, in order to prevent the liquid or other things inside from coming out:
I can’t find the cap for the pen.
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Put the top back on the milk!
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the cap that goes on the toothpaste
▪ cork the top part that you put on top of a bottle of wine:
Can you take off the cork for me?
▪ wrapping ( also wrap especially American English ) a sheet of paper, plastic etc that is put around something in order to cover or protect it:
John tore the wrapping off his presents.
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The lamp was still in its wrapping.
▪ wrapper a piece of paper or plastic that is put around something you buy, especially a small object:
Put the candy wrappers in your pocket.
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He took the drinking straw out of its wrapper.