cover

v. i. To spread a table for a meal; to prepare a banquet. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Anything which is laid, set, or spread, upon, about, or over, another thing; an envelope; a lid; as, the cover of a book. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything which veils or conceals; a screen; disguise; a cloak. “Under cover of the night.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

A handsome cover for imperfections. Collier. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Shelter; protection; as, the troops fought under cover of the batteries; the woods afforded a good cover. [ 1913 Webster ]

Being compelled to lodge in the field . . . whilst his army was under cover, they might be forced to retire. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Hunting) The woods, underbrush, etc., which shelter and conceal game; covert; as, to beat a cover; to ride to cover. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. That portion of a slate, tile, or shingle, which is hidden by the overlap of the course above. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Steam Engine) The lap of a slide valve. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. [ Cf. F. couvert. ] A tablecloth, and the other table furniture; esp., the table furniture for the use of one person at a meal; as, covers were laid for fifty guests. [ 1913 Webster ]

To break cover, to start from a covert or lair; -- said of game. --
Under cover, in an envelope, or within a letter; -- said of a written message. [ 1913 Webster ]

Letters . . . dispatched under cover to her ladyship. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. the range of items covered. Coverage may be small (narrow coverage }, or large (broad coverage or wide coverage). [ PJC ]

2. The aggregate of risks covered by the terms of a contract of insurance. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

3. the state of being insured; insurance. [ PJC ]

4. the areas reached by a radio transmission signal, or group of people reached by a communications medium, such as television or a newspaper. [ PJC ]

5. the range of topics treated in a discourse or document, or the depth to which a subject is discussed; as, a news program may have extensive coverage of an event. “gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Democratic convention.” [ PJC ]

6. the news as presented by reporters for newspapers or radio of television; as, they accused the paper of biased coverage of race relations.
Syn. -- reporting, reportage. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a loose-fitting one-piece garment that is worn over other clothing, especially one with trouser-like pants legs. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. [ See Kerchief. ] A covering for the head. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. covercle, F. couvercle, fr. L. cooperculum fr. cooperire. See cover ] A small cover; a lid. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A catch crop planted, esp. in orchards. as a protection to the soil in winter, as well as for the benefit of the soil when plowed under in spring. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Under cover; screened; sheltered; not exposed; hidden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Covered way (Fort.), a corridor or banquette along the top of the counterscarp and covered by an embankment whose slope forms the glacis. It gives the garrison an open line of communication around the works, and a standing place beyond the ditch. See Illust. of Ravelin. [ 1913 Webster ]