Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To keep from being observed or discovered; hide. synonym: hide.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To hide; withdraw, remove, or shield from observation; cover or keep from sight; secrete: as, a party of men concealed themselves behind a wall; his face was concealed by a mask.
  • To keep close or secret; forbear to disclose or divulge; withhold from utterance or declaration: as, to conceal one's thoughts or opinions.
  • Synonyms Conceal, Hide, Secrete, screen, cover, cloak, disguise, dissemble. To conceal and to hide may be to put or keep out of sight, literally or figuratively; to secrete is to put out of sight literally. Conceal implies least of action, and hide less than secrete. Conceal and hide may be used by a sort of personification where secrete could not be employed: as, a cave concealed by bushes; a cottage hidden amid woods. See dissemble.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To hide or withdraw from observation; to cover; to cover or keep from sight; to prevent the discovery of; to withhold knowledge of.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To hide something from view or from public knowledge, to try to keep something secret.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb prevent from being seen or discovered
  • verb hold back; keep from being perceived by others

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English concelen, from Old French conceler, from Latin concēlāre : com-, intensive pref.; see com– + cēlāre, to hide; see kel- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French conceler ("hide, disguise"), from Latin concelāre, infinitive of concelō ("carefully disguise").

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Examples

  • Noted historian of the American West Martha Sandweiss is the first writer to uncover the life that King tried so hard to conceal from the public eye.

    Passing Strange: Summary and book reviews of Passing Strange by Martha Sandweiss. 2009

  • Operation Mincemeat, an elaborate and sucessful ruse by British naval intelligence to conceal from the Germans preparations to invade Sicily in 1943, has been some time in coming to light.

    Operation Mincemeat, Operation Heartbreak, and The Man Who Never Was 2010

  • In addition it is the constant series of attempts by MPs to conceal from the public gaze the nature and extent of their expenses and allowances that prompts people to believe that they have something, probably a considerable something to hide and that the manner in which expenses and allowances are being used is somehow discreditable.

    Tories Ceauşescu Moment? 2008

  • OLAF, the EU Fraud Squad, had not yet heard of this report which makes one wonder if attempts are being made to bury it so as not to rock the boat and to conceal from the European people the extent to which MEPs are looting the public purse for their own enrichment.

    EuroSwine at Work 2008

  • OLAF, the EU Fraud Squad, had not yet heard of this report which makes one wonder if attempts are being made to bury it so as not to rock the boat and to conceal from the European people the extent to which MEPs are looting the public purse for their own enrichment.

    Archive 2008-02-17 2008

  • Obama's extensive relationship with ACORN -- which his campaign has sought to conceal from the squirrel and human communities -- raises serious questions about the judgment of the person who wants to be chief executive of our economy.

    Nuts - Swampland - TIME.com 2008

  • In addition it is the constant series of attempts by MPs to conceal from the public gaze the nature and extent of their expenses and allowances that prompts people to believe that they have something, probably a considerable something to hide and that the manner in which expenses and allowances are being used is somehow discreditable.

    Archive 2008-01-27 2008

  • It will come as no surprise to those who view Mr. Speaker Martin as incompetent, chippy and partial to the Government to discover that he is at the heart, yet again, of an effort to conceal from the public gaze something which appears to be unsatisfactory and discreditable about the conduct of the democratic affairs of the House and therefore the nation.

    Archive 2007-10-28 2007

  • It will come as no surprise to those who view Mr. Speaker Martin as incompetent, chippy and partial to the Government to discover that he is at the heart, yet again, of an effort to conceal from the public gaze something which appears to be unsatisfactory and discreditable about the conduct of the democratic affairs of the House and therefore the nation.

    Mr.Speaker Martin Sticks The Doc Martens Into Democracy 2007

  • This is the truth that the American government is trying to conceal from the American people.

    Inside Al-Qaeda’s Hard Drive 2004

Comments

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  • 'Verbergen', 'Vorenthalten'

    S: Hide, Secrete, Cover, Disguise, Dissemble

    A: Reveal, Uncover, Unwrap

    October 25, 2013