cover

cover

I

cov‧er¹ S1 W1 /ˈkʌvə $ -ər/ verb [transitive]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. | 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, blankets 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

cover² S1 W2 noun1.  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 | 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. | The hard shell acts as a protective covering. | the cloth coverings on the altar
   ▪ lid a cover for a container such as a pan or a box: the lid of the box | 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. | Put the top back on the milk! | 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. | 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. | He took the drinking straw out of its wrapper.