cove1

[kohv] /koʊv/
noun
1.
a small indentation or recess in the shoreline of a sea, lake, or river.
2.
a sheltered nook.
3.
a hollow or recess in a mountain; cave; cavern.
4.
a narrow pass between woods or hills.
5.
a sheltered area between woods or hills.
6.
Architecture.
  1. a concave surface or molding.
  2. a concave surface forming part of a ceiling at its edge so as to eliminate the usual interior angle between the wall and ceiling.
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), coved, coving.
7.
to make or become a cove.
Origin
before 900; Middle English; Old English cofa cave, den, closet; cognate with Old Norse kofi hut, Greek gýpē cave

cove2

[kohv] /koʊv/
noun
1.
British Slang. a person; fellow.
2.
Australian Slang. a manager, especially of a sheep station.
Origin
1560-70; said to be < Romany kova creature
Examples from the web for cove
  • He's a temperamental cove who wears his heart on his sleeve.
  • Where a band of solid rock gives way, waves claw at weaker clays behind to sculpt a cove or a bay.
  • Six tennis courts and a fitness center overlook the cove.
  • Or rent one of seven kayaks to explore the nooks and crannies of the protected cove.
  • One day a barge appears off the cove, and there is a lot of fussing around with floats, lots of divers in the water.
  • The protected cove with its flat water allows kite surfers to come up close to the beach.
  • We walked down a ton of steps to get to this cove beach area.
British Dictionary definitions for cove

cove1

/kəʊv/
noun
1.
a small bay or inlet, usually between rocky headlands
2.
a narrow cavern formed in the sides of cliffs, mountains, etc, usually by erosion
3.
a sheltered place
4.
(architect) Also called coving. a concave curved surface between the wall and ceiling of a room
verb
5.
(transitive) to form an architectural cove in
Word Origin
Old English cofa; related to Old Norse kofi, Old High German kubisi tent

cove2

/kəʊv/
noun
1.
(old-fashioned, slang, Brit & Austral) a fellow; chap
2.
(Austral, history) an overseer of convict labourers
Word Origin
C16: probably from Romany kova thing, person
Word Origin and History for cove
n.

early 14c., "den, cave," from Old English cofa "small chamber, cell," from Proto-Germanic *kubon (cf. Old High German kubisi "tent, hut," German Koben "pigsty," Old Norse kofi "hut, shed"). Extension of meaning to "small bay" is 1580s, apparently via Scottish dialectal meaning "small hollow place in coastal rocks" (a survival of an Old English secondary sense).

"fellow, chap," slang from at least 1560s, said to be from Romany (Gypsy) cova "that man."