Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - cover

 I. verb  (~ed; ~ing)  Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French ~ir, covrir, from Latin cooperire, from co- + operire to close, ~  Date: 13th century  transitive verb  1.  a. to guard from attack  b.  (1) to have within the range of one's guns ; command  (2) to hold within range of an aimed firearm  c.  (1) to afford protection or security to ; insure  (2) to afford protection against or compensation for a policy ~ing loss by fire  d.  (1) to guard (an opponent) in order to obstruct a play a linebacker assigned to ~ the tight end  (2) to be in position to receive a throw to (a base in baseball) the shortstop was ~ing second  e.  (1) to make provision for (a demand or charge) by means of a reserve or deposit your balance is insufficient to ~ the check  (2) to maintain a check on especially by patrolling  (3) to protect by contrivance or expedient  2.  a. to hide from sight or knowledge ; conceal ~ up a scandal  b. to lie over ; envelop a blanket ~ing her legs  3. to lay or spread something over ; overlay ~ the seed bed with straw  4.  a. to spread over snow ~ed the hills  b. to appear here and there on the surface of a region ~ed with lakes  5. to place or set a ~ or ~ing over ~ the pot  6.  a. to copulate with (a female animal) a horse ~s a mare  b. to sit on and incubate (eggs)  7. to invest with a large or excessive amount of something ~ed herself with glory  8. to play a higher-ranking card on (a previously played card)  9. to have sufficient scope to include or take into account an examination ~ing a full year's work  10. to deal with ; treat material ~ed in the first chapter  11.  a. to have as one's territory or field of activity one sales rep ~s the whole state  b. to report news about reporters ~ing the campaign  12. to pass over ; traverse the hikers ~ed 12 miles that day  13. to defray the cost of ~ expenses  14. to place one's stake in equal jeopardy with in a bet  15. to buy securities or commodities for delivery against (an earlier short sale)  16. to record or perform a ~ of (a song)  intransitive verb  1. to conceal something illicit, blameworthy, or embarrassing from notice — usually used with up  2. to act as a substitute or replacement during an absence  • ~able adjective  • ~er noun  II. noun  Usage: often attributive  Date: 14th century  1. something that protects, shelters, or guards: as  a. natural shelter for an animal; also the factors that provide such shelter  b.  (1) a position or situation affording protection from enemy fire  (2) the protection offered by airplanes in tactical support of a military operation  c. British ~age 1a, b, 2a  2. something that is placed over or about another thing:  a. lid, top  b. a binding or case for a book or the analogous part of a magazine; also the front or back of such a binding  c. an overlay or outer layer especially for protection a mattress ~  d. a tablecloth and the other table accessories  e. ~ charge  f. roof  g. a cloth used on a bed for warmth or for decoration — usually used in plural lying under the ~s  h. something (as vegetation or snow) that ~s the ground  i. the extent to which clouds obscure the sky  3.  a. something that conceals or obscures under ~ of darkness  b. a masking device ; pretext the project was a ~ for intelligence operations  4. an envelope or wrapper for mail  5. one who substitutes for another during an absence  6. a recording or performance of a song previously recorded by another performer  • ~less adjective