I. hide 1 S2 W2 /haɪd/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense hid /hɪd/, past participle hidden /ˈhɪdn/)
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: hydan ]
1 . [transitive] to deliberately put or keep something or someone in a place where they cannot easily be seen or found
hide something in/under/behind etc
Marcia hid the pictures in her desk drawer.
She keeps a bottle of gin hidden behind a stack of books.
hide something/somebody from somebody
He was accused of trying to hide evidence from the police.
2 . [transitive] to cover something so that it cannot be seen clearly:
The church roof was half hidden by trees.
Her tangled hair hid her face.
3 . [intransitive] to go or stay in a place where no one will see or find you:
Quick, he’s coming! We’d better hide.
hide in/under/behind etc
Harry hid under the bed.
hide from somebody
Weiss spent two years hiding from the Nazis.
4 . [transitive] to keep someone in a place where other people will not find them:
The old woman hid him in her cellar for three days.
hide somebody from somebody
We’ll have to hide him from the soldiers.
5 . [transitive] to keep your real feelings, plans, or the truth secret, so that they cannot be known by other people
hide your disappointment/embarrassment/confusion etc
She laughed to hide her nervousness.
He took off his ring to hide the fact that he was married.
He told the jury that he is innocent and has nothing to hide.
hide something from somebody
Don’t try to hide anything from me.
⇨ hide your light under a bushel at ↑ bushel
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THESAURUS
▪ hide to make something difficult to see or find, or to not show your true feelings:
He hid the gun in his pocket.
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She tried to hide her anger.
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The actress put up a hand to hide her face from the cameras.
▪ conceal formal to hide something, especially by carefully putting it somewhere. Also used when talking about hiding your feelings, especially in negative sentences:
Several kilos of drugs were concealed in the back of the truck.
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He could not conceal his feelings any longer.
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The girl quickly concealed the photograph she had been gazing at.
▪ cover up to put something over another thing that you do not want people to see, in order to hide it completely:
People cover up cracks with wallpaper or tiles.
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I used some make-up to cover up the spots.
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She was wearing a thin shawl to cover up the bruises on her arm.
▪ disguise to make someone or something seem like a different person or thing, so that other people cannot recognize them:
She managed to get into the camp by disguising herself as a soldier.
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The men had disguised the vessel as fishing boat.
▪ camouflage to hide something by covering it with materials that make it look like the things around it:
We camouflaged the plane by covering it with leaves.
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The troops used charcoal to camouflage their faces.
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Soldiers had camouflaged the trucks with branches and dirt.
▪ obscure literary to make it difficult to see something clearly:
The view was obscured by mist.
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His body was found, partially obscured by bushes, at the bottom of a shallow canyon.
▪ mask to make something less noticeable, for example a taste, a smell, a sound, or a feeling:
The lemon helps to mask the taste of the fish.
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Helen had turned on the radio to mask the noise of the traffic.
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He did little to mask his contempt.
II. hide 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: hyd ]
1 . British English a place from which you can watch animals or birds without being seen by them SYN blind American English
2 . an animal’s skin, especially when it has been removed to be used for leather:
ox hide gloves
3 . have/tan sb’s hide spoken to punish someone severely – used humorously
4 . sb’s hide spoken used to talk about someone when they are in a difficult situation:
He would say anything in court to try and save his own hide (=save himself) .
5 . not see hide nor hair of somebody spoken to not see someone anywhere for a fairly long time:
I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him for ages.