- [countable] a thing that is put over or on another thing, usually to protect it or to decorate it
- Brighten up your room with some colourful cushion covers.
- cover for something a plastic waterproof cover for the pushchair
Extra Examples- He held his nose as he lifted the cover of the bin.
- a cover for the swimming pool
- a sofa with a loose cover
- He lifted the manhole cover.
- She put on a clean duvet cover.
- The buggy had a plastic waterproof cover.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- protective
- removable
- reversible
- …
- put on
- replace
- lift
- …
- cover for
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- [uncountable] shelter from bad weather or protection from an attack
- for cover Everyone ran for cover when it started to rain.
- After the explosion the street was full of people running for cover.
- The climbers took cover from the storm in a cave.
- They sought cover from the wind.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- air
- dive for
- run for
- take
- …
- under cover
- under cover of
- cover from
- …
- [countable] the outside of a book or a magazine
- the front/back cover
- His photographs grace many book and magazine covers.
- on the cover Her face was on the cover (= the front cover) of every magazine.
- He always reads the paper from cover to cover (= everything in it).
- Have you seen the cover of the latest issue?
Extra ExamplesTopics Literature and writingb1- There's a picture of the author on the back cover.
- Her image has graced the covers of many glossy magazines.
- The author only gets 1% of the cover price.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- back
- front
- hard
- …
- adorn
- grace
- design
- …
- illustration
- image
- photo
- …
- on a/the cover
- (British English) (North American English coverage)[uncountable] protection that an insurance company provides by promising to pay you money if a particular event happens
- accident cover
- cover against something cover against accidental damage
- cover for something There is no cover provided by the policy for theft of property from cars or garages.
- private health cover costs
Extra Examples- This company provides wider cover.
- cover for contents
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- comprehensive
- full
- wide
- …
- have
- give somebody
- provide (somebody with)
- …
- cover against
- cover for
- [uncountable] support and protection that is provided when somebody is attacking or in danger of being attacked
- The ships needed air cover (= protection by military planes) once they reached enemy waters.
- The RAF provided air cover for the attack.
- [uncountable] trees and plants that grow on an area of land
- The total forest cover of the earth is decreasing.
- Zebras and other animals were standing very still in broken cover.
- The plants provide a protective cover for the soil.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- dense
- thick
- cloud
- …
- [uncountable] the fact of the sky being covered with cloud or the ground with snow
- Fog and low cloud cover are expected this afternoon.
- In this area there is snow cover for six months of the year.
Extra ExamplesTopics Weatherc1- We descended into Heathrow through thick cloud cover.
- a thick cover of snow
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- dense
- thick
- cloud
- …
- the covers[plural] the sheets, blankets, etc. on a bed
- She threw back the covers and leapt out of bed.
- He climbed into the cold bed and snuggled beneath the covers.
- He pulled the covers over his head and tried to get back to sleep.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- bed
- thick
- warm
- …
- get under
- pull up
- fling off
- …
- under the cover
- pull the covers over your head
- [countable] (also cover version)a new recording of an old song by a different band or singer
- They started out singing covers of country songs.
- a Beatles cover band (= a band that plays songs originally recorded by the Beatles)
- [countable, usually singular] cover (for something) activities or behaviour that seem honest or true but that hide somebody’s real identity or feelings, or that hide something illegal
- His work as a civil servant was a cover for his activities as a spy.
- Her over-confident attitude was a cover for her nervousness.
- It would only take one phone call to blow their cover (= make known their true identities and what they were really doing).
Extra Examples- spies operating under diplomatic cover
- The club is a cover for various criminal activities.
- He realized his cover had been blown.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- perfect
- diplomatic
- official
- …
- blow
- story
- cover for
- [uncountable] the fact of somebody doing a job when the person who usually does it is away or when there are not enough staff
- It's the manager's job to organize cover for staff who are absent.
- Ambulance drivers provided only emergency cover during the dispute.
protection/shelter
of book
insurance
with weapons
trees/plants
cloud/snow
on bed
song
hiding something
for somebody’s work
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French covrir, from Latin cooperire, from co- (expressing intensive force) + operire ‘to cover’. The noun is partly a variant of covert.
Idioms
See cover in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee cover in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbreak cover
- to leave a place that you have been hiding in, usually at a high speed
- The vehicles broke cover and headed towards the enemy’s headquarters.
- The deer broke cover as the hunters approached.
don’t judge a book by its cover
- (saying) used to say that you should not form an opinion about somebody/something from their appearance onlyTopics Opinion and argumentc1
under cover
- pretending to be somebody else in order to do something secretly
- a police officer working under cover
- under a structure that gives protection from the weather
- Start growing the plants indoors or under cover.
- All the seats are under cover.
under (the) cover of something
- hidden or protected by something
- Later, under cover of darkness, they crept into the house.
- We attacked at night, under cover of darkness.
under separate cover
- (business) in a separate envelope
- The information you requested is being forwarded to you under separate cover.
Check pronunciation:
cover