See Also: Cover(medicine)
Cover(finance)
Cover(money)
cover(1)(dictionary)
cover(2)(dictionary)
cover(3)(dictionary)
cover(4)(dictionary)
re-cover(dictionary)
cover-up(dictionary)
cover charge(dictionary)

cover(1) (iou)



cover noun1. ME.
[from COVER verb2 or partly a var. of COVERT noun.]
I. A thing which covers.
gen. A thing which is put on or which lies over something. ME.
W. Buckland The alluvial cover which rests upon the rocks of this district.
a. A piece of armour; an article of clothing. ME-L18.
b. More fully bed-cover. A cloth for putting on a bed, spec. a quilt; in pl., bedclothes. E19.
D. Runyon He just pulls the covers up over his head and lies there.
A lid. LME.
The binding, wrapper, or case of a book; either of the boards forming the front and back of a book; an outer page of a magazine. L16.
An envelope or other wrapper for a letter; spec. a stamped envelope of philatelic interest. M18.
Cricket. = cover-point (a) s.v. COVER verb2; the covers, cover-point and extra cover-point. M19.
Textiles. A design that is printed over another design in resist work. Also cover pattern. L19.
Commerce. Funds adequate to cover or meet a liability or to secure against contingent loss. L19.
b. Adequate insurance against loss, damage, etc.; the state of being protected by this. E20.
In full cover version. A recording of a previously recorded song etc., esp. one made to take advantage of the latter's publicity or success. M20.
II. A thing which conceals.
A thing which serves for shelter or concealment; a shelter; a hiding place. LME.
J. Buchan There was not cover in the whole place to hide a rat. C. Milne When a storm broke we took cover. D. Bogarde Leaving..under cover of night.
b. A disguise, a screen; spec. a spy's assumed identity or activity as concealment. L16.
B. Jowett Under the cover of rhetoric much higher themes are introduced. A. Price The precipitate withdrawal to Holland when it looked as though his cover had been blown.
c. The partner who screens the operations of a pickpocket. E19.
Woodland, undergrowth, etc., that serves to shelter or conceal wild animals or game. E18.
b. The vegetation covering the surface of the ground. E20.
Discovery This denudation of forest cover is due to human interference.
Protection from attack, esp. that provided by a supporting force etc.; a force providing such protection. E19.
III. [French COUVERT.]
The utensils laid for each person's use at table; a plate, napkin, knife, fork, spoon, etc., a place-setting. E17.
H. Allen The man..began to lay covers for two.
Phrases: break cover: see BREAK verb. extra cover: see EXTRA adjective. first-day cover an envelope postmarked with the date on which its stamp was first issued. from cover to cover from beginning to end (of a book). loose cover: see LOOSE adjective. open cover: see OPEN adjective. paper cover: see PAPER noun & adjective. take cover use natural or prepared shelter (against attack). under cover to in an envelope or other postal packet addressed to. under separate cover in another envelope or postal packet.
Comb.: cover charge a charge for service added to that for food and drink in a restaurant; cover crop a usu. leguminous crop sown to protect the soil or to enrich it by being ploughed under; cover-drive Cricket a drive past cover-point; cover-girl a young woman whose picture appears on the front cover of a magazine; cover-glass a slip of glass used to cover a specimen for the microscope; cover note: certifying the existence of a current insurance policy; cover-slip = cover-glass above; cover story (a) a fictitious life history etc. concocted as a false identity for a person; (b) a news story illustrated or mentioned on the front cover of a magazine; cover version: see sense 9 above.