kənˈsēl, esp bef pause or cons -ēəl transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English concelen, from Middle French conceler, from Latin concelare, from com- + celare to hide — more at hell
1. : to prevent disclosure or recognition of : avoid revelation of : refrain from revealing : withhold knowledge of : draw attention from : treat so as to be unnoticed
confessing … things a woman ought to conceal — Thomas Hardy
2. : to place out of sight : withdraw from being observed : shield from vision or notice
it grew so thickly as to conceal the roof — Richard Jefferies
Synonyms:
hide , bury , secrete , cache , screen , ensconce : conceal and hide are general terms often interchangeable. conceal may be applied freely to persons and animals, objects, attributes, conditions, facts, or ideas
Sophia had held the telegram concealed in her hand and its information concealed in her heart — Arnold Bennett
Elizabeth was forced to conceal her lover from her father — Virginia Woolf
politeness may conceal a legitimate wish that dare not put itself in bald speech — R.P.Blackmur
conceal may indicate any hiding or masking of any motive, from reprehensible secrecy to aesthetic improvement
conceal a murder
conceal a scar
concealing a scratch on a piece of furniture
conceal a bad odor
It need not suggest covering. It often implies a certain design or artfulness. hide may differ from conceal in suggesting less conscious intent and artfulness, and hence less effectiveness, but occasionally more urgency
hidden things that had never been concealed, that had merely been dropped away into forgotten corners and out-of-the-way places — Elizabeth M. Roberts
with these consoling words he tried to hide from her the doubt that had entered his mind — Morley Callaghan
It is less applicable than conceal to senses other than sight. bury suggests concealment in a low place by covering, especially by heaping something amorphous
loot buried under the ground
or, in more figurative senses, it suggests relegation to obscurity
I would myself be half buried in shadows and in darkness — Sherwood Anderson
secrete is likely to have an increased suggestion of highly purposive, secretive, stealthy concealment
she could scarcely … overcome the suspicion of there being many chambers secreted — Jane Austen
and in mere sound secretes his inmost sense — Walter de la Mare
cache suggests use of storage places affording security or protection as well as concealment, sometimes in the ground. screen suggests protection or concealment from observation or danger by that which screens from a viewer's eyes
screened himself under a bush and waited — Thomas Hardy
the idea of a woman's appealing to her family to screen her husband's business dishonor — Edith Wharton
ensconce , in this sense, implies the security of concealment in a raised or walled area
bounded into the vehicle and sat on a stool, ensconced from view — Thomas Hardy
he ensconced the boy in a cubbyhole — Peggy Bacon