cloakn.
/kləʊk/, U.S. /kloʊk/ 1. A loose outer garment worn by both sexes over their other clothes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > loose clothing > cloak, mantle, or cape
rifteOE
mantleeOE
whittlec900
hackleeOE
bratc950
reafOE
capec1275
copec1275
cloakc1300
toge?a1400
caster1567
togeman1567
vinegar1699
overcloak1831
pharos1871
c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1963) l. 6537 Vortiger..nam one cloke [c1275 Calig. cape] of his one cnihte.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. iii. 294 Shal no seriaunt..were..no pelure in his cloke.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 83 Clooke, armilausa.
1462 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 150 My lordys tawny cloke lynyd wyth velvet.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 395 [He] gart cloikis mak, and sindrie thairin cled.
?a1560 in T. Wright Songs & Ballads Reign Philip & Mary (1860) 12 Thy clocke ys clute withe jaggis.
1612 Sir R. Boyle in Lismore Papers (1886) I. 12 My Russett ryding clok.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 147. ⁋7 He grew peevish and silent, wrapped his cloke about him.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. 17 A stranger, who assumed..the cloak of a Cynic philosopher.
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II i. l. 33 Subtle poinards, wrapt beneath the cloke.
1830 T. Carlyle Jrnl. in J. A. Froude T. Carlyle: First Forty Years (1882) II. vi. 127 The fairest cloak has its wrong side.
a. An academical or clerical gown; particularly the Geneva gown. Obsolete or archaic.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > vestments > outer garments > [noun] > gown
gown1564
cloak1641
1641 Curates Conf. in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) IV. 375 I bought one new cloke [= curate's gown] in six years.
1727 D. Defoe Ess. Hist. Apparitions iii. 24 If the Devil should put on the Gown and Cassock, or the black Cloak, or the Coat and the Cord.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Puritanism > [noun]
Catharism1573
precisianism1573
puritanism1573
Purantism1596
cloak1649
saintism1691
Perfectism1830
hot gospelling1876
wowserism1936
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > other clergy > [noun] > Presbyterian
cloak1649
Mas Johnc1680
1649 C. Walker Anarchia Anglicana ii. 83 Where a dozen Schismaticks and two or three cloaks represented a whole County.
1663 Polit. Ballads (1860) I. 172 Which happen'd when Cloak was commander-in-chief.
3.
a. figurative. That which covers over and conceals; a pretext, pretence, outward show.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > means of concealment > [noun] > mask, cloak, disguise
visor1390
scugc1485
cloak1526
visor1532
vizarda1555
mask1577
superficiesa1592
muffler1605
umbrella1623
misguise1646
travesty1732
iron mask1760
domino1836
vizarding1861
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > [noun]
hue971
glozea1300
showingc1300
coloura1325
illusionc1340
frontc1374
simulationc1380
visage1390
cheera1393
sign?a1425
countenance?c1425
study?c1430
cloak1526
false colour1531
visure1531
face1542
masquery?1544
show1547
gloss1548
glass1552
affectation1561
colourableness1571
fashion1571
personage?1571
ostentation1607
disguise1632
lustrementa1641
grimace1655
varnish1662
masquerade1674
guisea1677
whitewash1730
varnish1743
maya1789
vraisemblance1802
Japan1856
veneering1865
veneer1868
affectedness1873
candy coating1885
simulance1885
window dressing1903
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Kiiiiv Vnder the cloke of ypocrisy.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet ii. i. 117 I haue nights cloak to hide thee from their sight. View more context for this quotation
1611 Bible (King James) 1 Pet. ii. 16 Not vsing your libertie for a cloake of maliciousnesse. View more context for this quotation
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 458. ¶6 Those Persons, who had made Religion a Cloke to so many Villanies.
1800 R. Southey in Ann. Anthol. II. 5 Humility is made the cloak of pride.
1858 J. Doran Hist. Court Fools 15 Under the cloak of folly, good service has been rendered.
b. A cloak-like covering.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > [noun] > a covering > like a garment
weedOE
robec1225
kirtle1398
vestment1483
vesture1526
apron1535
gabardine1542
garment1585
tire1594
dress1608
garb1613
cowl1658
investiture1660
dressing1835
pinafore1845
cloak1876
1876 R. W. Emerson Resources in Lett. & Social Aims 128 Tucking up..the ground under a cloak of snow.
4. The mantle n. or pallium n. of molluscs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Mollusca > [noun] > mollusc or shell-fish > parts of mollusc
ungulaa1382
mantlea1475
trunk1661
diaphragm1665
lid1681
operculum1681
ear1688
beard1697
corslet1753
scar1793
opercle1808
pleura1826
pallium1834
byssus1835
cephalic ganglia1835–6
opercule1836
lingual ribbon1839
tube1839
cloak1842
test1842
collar1847
testa1847
rachis1851
uncinus1851
land-shell1853
mantle cavity1853
mesopodium1853
propodium1853
radula1853
malacology1854
gill comb1861
pallial cavity1862
tongue-tootha1877
mesopode1877
odontophore1877
pallial chamber1877
shell-gland1877
rasp1879
protopodium1880
ctenidium1883
osphradium1883
shell-sac1883
tooth-ribbon1883
megalaesthete1885
rachidian1900
scungille1953
tentacle-sheath-
1842 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 2 28 Tentacula arising between the cloak and veil.
5. Phrases. †a Plymouth cloak: a cudgel: see Plymouth n. †the cloak sitteth fit: = ‘the cap fits’.
ΚΠ
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie Pref. 18 Which cloake sitteth no lesse fit on the backe of their cause, then of the Anabaptists.
1629 L. Owen Speculum Iesuiticum (new ed.) 10 I would haue soone recall'd him, with a Plymouth cloake [margin Cudgell].
1638 W. Davenant To. I. C. in Madagascar 68 Whose Cloake (at Plimouth spun) was Crab-Tree wood.
Compounds
General attributive. C1. See also cloak-bag n., cloakroom n.
a.
cloak-carrier n.
ΚΠ
1636 W. Prynne Unbishoping of Timothy & Titus 42 Timothy..being so much at Pauls beck, as to be..his cloake carrier, and booke-bearer.
cloak-string n.
cloak-twitcher n.
ΚΠ
1725 New Canting Dict. Cloak-Twitchers, villains who formerly, when Cloaks were much worn, us'd to lurk, in by and dark Places, to snatch them off the Wearer's Shoulders.
b.
cloak-fashion adj.
ΚΠ
1822 T. Mitchell tr. Dicast turned Gentleman in tr. Aristophanes Comedies II. 283 Please to throw this mantle round Your neck, cloak-fashion.
cloak-wise adv.
ΚΠ
1863 J. S. Le Fanu House by Church-yard III. 211 His white surtout, cloakwise over his shoulders.
C2. † cloak-bearer n. Obsolete a portmanteau, cloak-bag n.† cloak-father n. Obsolete a pretended author whose name is put forth to conceal the real author.† cloak-fish n. Obsolete (see quot.).† cloak-man n. Obsolete a Presbyterian (cf. 2b).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > [noun] > luggage > travelling bag > hand-held
mailc1275
clothesack1393
cloak-bagc1540
portmanteau1553
valance?a1562
pockmanty1575
cap-case1577
cloak-bearer1580
night baga1618
valisea1630
toilet1656
Roger1665
shirt case1823
weekend case1827
carpet-bag1830
holdall1851
handbag1859
suitcase1873
sample case1875
gripsack1877
case1879
grip1879
Gladstone (bag)1882
traveller1895
vanity-case1913
luggage1915
revelation1923
two-suiter1923
overnight bag1925
one-suiter1933
suiter1933
overnight case1934
Samsonite1939
flight bag1943
Pullman1946
grip-bag1958
overnighter1959
carry-on1960
Vuitton1975
go bag1991
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Porte-manteau, a cloake bearer, a leather fastened to the sadlebowe to beare the cloake.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > motivation > [noun] > incitement or instigation > one who incites or instigates > pretended
cloak-father1639
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre i. viii. 11 A counterfeit, and a cloke-father for a plot of the Popes begetting.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. ix. 197 The secular Priests say he was but the Cloak-father thereof, and that Parsons the Jesuite made it.
ΚΠ
1694 J. Narborough Acct. Several Late Voy. (1711) i. 16 A great broad flat Fish like a Scate..called by the Seamen a String Ray..called by some Cloke Fishes.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Presbyterianism > [noun] > person
disciplinarian1591
disciplinary1593
consistorian1606
Presbyterian1606
kirkmana1645
presbyter1647
presbyterial1647
Presbyterialist1647
Kirker1651
Kirkist1652
whiggamore1654
Whig1657
scaldabancoa1670
cloak-man1680
Presbyteera1708
Knoxian1714
blue skin1790
Auld Kirker1856
bluenose1861
1680 in Roxburghe Ballads (1883) IV. 637 Though Cloak-men, that seem much precise, 'Gainst Wine exclaim, with turn'd-up eyes.
cloak-pin n. a peg for hanging a cloak on; a large pin for fastening a cloak.
ΚΠ
1820 W. Scott Monastery II. i. 17 Stag's antlers..served for what we vulgarly call cloak-pins.
C3.
cloak and dagger n. [translating French de cape et d'épée] (a) = cloak and sword adj.; (b) of, concerned with, or characteristic of espionage, secrecy, intrigue, etc.; hence in various allusive phrases; hence cloak-and-daggery.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adjective]
dernc897
dighela1000
hid?c1225
stillc1275
stillyc1275
covertc1303
secrec1374
secret1399
secretivec1470
covered1484
dark1532
underhid1532
hiddena1547
concealed1558
abstruse1576
unshewing1598
mystical1600
of secreta1616
mystica1625
subterraneous1652
researched1653
hugger-mugger1692
hidlingsa1810
sub rosa1824
cachet1837
cloak and dagger1841
theftuous1881
q.t.1910
closet1966
down-low1991
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > [adjective] > of the nature of spying
cloak and dagger1841
Orient Express1883
spooky1975
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > [adjective] > melodrama
melodramatic1789
cloak and sword1806
melodramic1835
cloak and dagger1841
Adelphi1883
lyceum1898
transpontine1901
Grand Guignolesque1908
Grand Guignolish1908
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > [noun] > an organization of spies
net1869
ring1901
cloak and dagger1946
spy network1977
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xxiv. 69 A very small scrap of dirty paper..was given him by a person then waiting at the door... ‘With a cloak and dagger?’
1860 G. Vandenhoff Dramatic Reminisc. vi. 96 A most solemn and mysterious tragedian, of the cloak-and-dagger school.
1898 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Nov. 600/1 Our sham revivals of cloak and dagger are poor things.
1905 Academy 10 June 603/2 Thousands of cloak-and-dagger stories.
1907 Daily Chron. 14 Mar. 3/3 Fighting and brawling,..intrigue of love and politics, and all the elements of cloak-and-dagger fiction.
1946 Britannica Bk. of Year 832/1 Cloak and dagger, Office of Strategic Services; pertaining to OSS.
1954 A. Koestler Invisible Writing 419 The cloak-and-dagger atmosphere which keeps intruding, all his life, into the Party-member's world.
1958 Listener 10 July 64/2 The main interest in this wild cloak-and-daggery is why it came to be written.
1959 ‘M. M. Kaye’ House of Shade xx. 272 The police, or M.I.5, or some of those cloak-and-dagger boys, had a line on him.
1959 M. Steen Tower i. iii. 36 She had two pips on her shoulder and was private secretary to a man in the Cloak and Dagger.
cloak and sword adj. [translating Spanish (comedia) de capa y espada] designating or pertaining to dramas or stories of intrigue and romantic or melodramatic adventure, in which the principal characters are taken from that class of society which formerly wore cloak and dagger or sword.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > [adjective] > melodrama
melodramatic1789
cloak and sword1806
melodramic1835
cloak and dagger1841
Adelphi1883
lyceum1898
transpontine1901
Grand Guignolesque1908
Grand Guignolish1908
1806 Ld. Holland Lope 126 Comedias de Capa y Espada, Comedies of the Cloak and Sword, from the dresses in which they were represented.
1840 Longfellow in Life (1886) I. 353 In the afternoon read La Dama Duenda of Calderon—a very good comedy of ‘cloak and sword’.
1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 660/2 Calderon's comedies of intrigue, the so-called ‘comedies of cloak and sword’.
1893 H. B. Clarke Spanish Lit. 163 The play of the ‘cloak and sword’..may almost be said to be his [sc. Lope de Vega's] own invention.
1893 H. B. Clarke Spanish Lit. 220 The stock characters, the galán and dama, the gracioso and barba of their ‘sword and cloak’ plays.
1921 H. Walpole Young Enchanted 42 The Cloak and Sword Romances.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
cloakv.
/kləʊk/, U.S. /kloʊk/ 1.
a. transitive. To cover with or wrap in a cloak.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > providing with clothing > provide with clothing [verb (transitive)] > in specific way > with specific garments > cloak or mantle
cope1362
mantlec1429
cloak?1521
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > wrapping > wrap [verb (transitive)] > enfold or envelop > in a surrounding medium
belapc1175
take?a1300
wrapa1382
environa1393
enumberc1400
involvea1420
enfoldc1425
bewrapa1430
mantlec1450
envelop1474
enwrap1545
imply1590
circumvolve1607
circumfuse1608
becloaka1618
swathe1624
gird1645
wrap1656
velope1722
steep1798
bathe1816
cloak1818
impall1852
atmosphere1881
kirtle1888
?1521 A. Barclay Bk. Codrus & Mynalcas sig. A This lusty Codrus, was cloked for the rayne.
1752 H. Fielding Amelia IV. xi. vi. 173 She cloaked herself up as well as she could.
1818 B. O'Reilly Greenland 209 A frowning berg, deeply cloaked with mist.
1862 Macmillan's Mag. Sept. 424 Motions as of shadowy spirits cloaking themselves.
b. intransitive for reflexive. To put on a cloak, cloak oneself.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > providing with clothing > provide with clothing [verb (intransitive)] > in specific way > in specific clothing
to cover (one's head)c1340
boot1600
to be covered1611
to put on1611
robea1626
cloak1774
wrap1847
tuck1888
gown1896
flannel1919
to suit up1927
to dress down1941
1774 H. S. Conway Let. 31 Aug. in Carlyle Frederick the Great (1865) VI. xxi. v. 542 It rained hard the whole time we were out; and as his Majesty did not cloak, we were all heartily wet.
1906 T. Hardy Dynasts: Pt. 2nd ii. ii. 69 All three cloak And veil as when you came.
2. figurative.† a. To cover, protect, shelter. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > refuge or shelter > seek (refuge) [verb (transitive)] > shelter > cover protectively
overshadoweOE
shadowc1000
overshadeOE
cloaka1554
shade1623
a1554 J. Croke tr. Thirteen Psalms (1844) xci. 42 His wyngs shall cloke thee from all fear.
a1593 C. Marlowe Massacre at Paris (c1600) sig. C4 Nauarre that cloakes them vnderneath his wing.
b. To cover over, conceal; to disguise, mask.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > present speciously [verb (transitive)] > conceal real state
dissimulec1374
feigna1393
shroud1412
abuse?a1439
counterfeit1490
cloak1509
dissemblea1535
maska1593
dissimulate1610
disguisea1616
pretext1634
mascherate1654
veil1700
camouflage1917
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure Introd. vi The lyght of trouth I lacke cunnyng to cloke.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. i. sig. N2 To cloke her guile with sorrow.
1741 Bp. J. Butler Serm. before House of Lords 15 Men cloke their Extravagance to themselves under the Notion of Liberality.
1867 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. vi. 497 His refusal was cloked under a show of feudal loyalty.
1871 F. T. Palgrave Lyrical Poems 17 'Neath smiles her fear she cloak'd.
a. transitive. To wear the semblance of, put on, assume. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > present speciously [verb (transitive)] > assume appearance
assume1447
endue?a1475
cloak1535
affect1593
finical1682
1535 G. Joye Apol. Tindale 44 Yf he had had siche a godly zele as he here cloketh.
b. intransitive. To pretend, dissemble. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > pretend, dissemble [verb (intransitive)]
letc1000
faitc1330
counterfeitc1374
dissimulec1374
feignc1400
showc1405
supposea1450
fare1483
simule?a1500
dissemble1523
pretend1526
frame1545
cloakc1572
jouk1573
pretent1582
disguisea1586
devise1600
semble1603
coin1607
insimulate1623
fox1646
sham1787
dissimulate1796
gammon1819
to let on1822
simulate1823
possum1832
simulacrize1845
to put on an act1929
to put on (also up) a show1937
prat1967
c1572 W. Forrest Theophilus 651 in Anglia (1884) 7 97 Christian folke, Of which none am I, how eaver I cloake.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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