shroud

[shroud] /ʃraʊd/

noun

a cloth or sheet in which a corpse is wrapped for burial.

something that covers or conceals like a garment:

a shroud of rain.

Nautical. any of a number of taut ropes or wires converging from both sides on the head of a lower or upper mast of the outer end of a bowsprit to steady it against lateral sway: a part of the standing rigging.

Also called shroud line. Aeronautics. any of a number of suspension cords of a parachute attaching the load to the canopy.

Also called shrouding. Machinery.

(on a nonmetallic gear) an extended metal rim enclosing the ends of the teeth on either side.
(on a water wheel) one of two rings of boards or plates enclosing the buckets at their ends.

Rocketry. a cone-shaped shield that protects the payload of a launch vehicle.

verb (used with object)

to wrap or clothe for burial; enshroud.

to cover; hide from view.

to veil, as in obscurity or mystery:

They shrouded their past lives in an effort to forget.

10.

to provide (a water wheel) with a shroud.

11.

Obsolete. to shelter.

verb (used without object)

12.

Archaic. to take shelter.

Origin

before 1000; (noun) Middle English; Old English scrūd; cognate with Old Norse skrūth; akin to shred; (v.) Middle English shrouden, derivative of the noun; replacing Middle English shriden, Old English scrȳdan, derivative of scrūd

Related forms

shroudless, adjective

shroudlike, adjective

Synonyms

1. winding sheet. 8. conceal, screen.

Examples from the web for shroud

In addition, the fluid sometimes moistened the burial shroud near the corpse's mouth so that the cloth sagged into the jaw.
Armed police drove by the hospital in a pickup truck with a corpse wrapped in a white burial shroud.
He argues that even a six-mile-wide asteroid could not stir up enough dust to create a global shroud.
But even more important is its ability to create a shroud of anonymity.
The velvet shroud of darkness is colossal, the silence immense.
The structural integrity of the reactor vessel is not impacted by the cracks in the shroud.
The shroud shall be bronze color and be designed for insert into the small non-metallic fixture specified above.
The shroud should totally enclose the spaces around the exhaust entry point for the hose.
The exhaust shroud should have an entry point for the hose matching the dia meter of the hose.
The shroud should have an entry point for the hose that matches the diameter of the hose.

British Dictionary definitions for shroud

shroud

/ʃraʊd/

noun

a garment or piece of cloth used to wrap a dead body

anything that envelops like a garment: a shroud of mist

a protective covering for a piece of equipment

(astronautics) a streamlined protective covering used to protect the payload during a rocket-powered launch

(nautical) one of a pattern of ropes or cables used to stay a mast

any of a set of wire cables stretched between a smokestack or similar structure and the ground, to prevent side sway

Also called shroud line. any of a set of lines running from the canopy of a parachute to the harness

verb

(transitive) to wrap in a shroud

(transitive) to cover, envelop, or hide

10.

(archaic) to seek or give shelter

Derived Forms

shroudless, adjective

Word Origin

Old English scrūd garment; related to Old Norse skrūth gear

Word Origin and History for shroud

Old English scrud "a garment, clothing, dress," from West Germanic *skruthan, from Proto-Germanic *skrud- "cut" (cf. Old Norse skruð "shrouds of a ship, tackle, gear; furniture of a church," Danish, Swedish skrud "dress, attire"), from PIE *skreu- "to cut" (see shred (n.)).

Specific meaning "winding-sheet, cloth or sheet for burial," to which the word now is restricted, first attested 1560s. Sense of "strong rope supporting the mast of a ship" (mid-15c.) is from the notion of "clothing" a spar or mast; one without rigging was said to be naked.

c.1300, "to clothe, to cover, protect," from Old English scrydan, scridan "to clothe, dress;" see shroud (n.). Meaning "to hide from view, conceal" (transitive) is attested from early 15c. Related: Shrouded; shrouding.