- 1[transitive] to put or keep someone or something in a place where they/it cannot be seen or found synonym conceal hide somebody/something He hid the letter in a drawer. I keep my private papers hidden. hide somebody/something from something They hid me from the police in their attic.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- 2[intransitive, transitive] to go somewhere where you hope you will not be seen or found Quick, hide! + adv./prep. I hid under the bed. We hid from our pursuers in an empty house. (figurative) He hid behind a false identity. hide yourself (+ adv.prep.) She hides herself away in her office all day.
- 3[transitive] to cover something so that it cannot be seen synonym conceal hide something + adv./prep. He hid his face in his hands. hide something The house was hidden by trees. The brim of his hat hid half his face. No amount of makeup could hide her age. Hidden dangers lurk in the ocean depths.
- 4[transitive] hide something to keep something secret, especially your feelings synonym conceal She struggled to hide her disappointment. I have never tried to hide the truth about my past. They claim that they have nothing to hide (= there was nothing wrong or illegal about what they did). She felt sure the letter had some hidden meaning. His rough manner hides a shy and sensitive nature. I could not hide my joy at seeing him again. Thesaurushide
- conceal
- cover
- disguise
- mask
- camouflage
- hide to put or keep someone or something in a place where they/it cannot be seen or found; to keep something secret, especially your feelings:He hid the letter in a drawer. She hid her disappointment from her brother.
- conceal (formal) to hide someone or something; to keep something secret:The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. Tim could barely conceal his disappointment. When it is being used to talk about emotions, conceal is often used in negative statements.
- cover to place something over or in front of something in order to hide it:She covered her face with her hands.
- disguise to hide or change the nature of something, so that it cannot be recognized:He tried to disguise his accent.
- mask to hide a feeling, smell, fact, etc. so that it cannot be easily seen or noticed:She masked her anger with a smile.
- camouflage to hide someone or something by making them/it look like the things around, or like something else:The soldiers camouflaged themselves with leaves and twigs.
- to hide/conceal/mask something behind something
- to hide/conceal something under something
- to hide/conceal something from somebody
- to hide/conceal/disguise/mask the truth/the fact that…
- to hide/conceal/disguise/mask your feelings
verb jump to other results
NAmE//haɪd//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they hide he / she / it hides
past simple hid
past participle hidden
-ing form hiding
to hide the real situation or facts when these are not good or pleasant She was dressed in loose comfortable clothes that hid a multitude of sins.
to not let people know that you are good at something
Check pronunciation: hide