- 1[singular] the mantle of somebody/something (literary) the role and responsibilities of an important person or job, especially when they are passed on from one person to another The vice president must now take on the mantle of power. She will soon inherit her father's mantle.
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- 2[countable] (literary) a layer of something that covers a surface hills with a mantle of snow a gray mantle of mist shrouding the slopes synonym covering
- 3[countable] a loose piece of clothing without sleeves, worn over other clothes, especially in the past synonym cloak
- 4(also gas mantle) [countable] a cover around the flame of a gas lamp that becomes very bright when it is heated
- 5[singular] (geology) the part of the earth below the crust and surrounding the core
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