Dictionary-Definition.com :: Cloak definition

Definition of 'cloak'

noun

Anything that covers or conceals

noun

A loose outer garment

verb

Hide under a false appearance; "He masked his disappointment" [syn: dissemble, cloak, mask]

verb

Cover as if with clothing; "the mountain was clothed in tropical trees" [syn: clothe, cloak, drape, robe]

verb

Cover with or as if with a cloak; "cloaked monks"

From: GCIDE

Cloak \Cloak\ (kl[=o]k; 110), n. [Of. cloque cloak (from the bell-like shape), bell, F. cloche bell; perh. of Celtic origin and the same word as E. clock. See 1st Clock.]
1. A loose outer garment, extending from the neck downwards, and commonly without sleeves. It is longer than a cape, and is worn both by men and by women. [1913 Webster]
2. That which conceals; a disguise or pretext; an excuse; a fair pretense; a mask; a cover. [1913 Webster]
No man is esteemed any ways considerable for policy who wears religion otherwise than as a cloak. --South. [1913 Webster]
Cloak bag, a bag in which a cloak or other clothes are carried; a portmanteau. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

From: GCIDE

Cloak \Cloak\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cloaked; p. pr. & vb. n. Cloaking.] To cover with, or as with, a cloak; hence, to hide or conceal. [1913 Webster]
Now glooming sadly, so to cloak her matter. --Spenser.
Syn: See Palliate. [1913 Webster]

Cloak an upper garment, "an exterior tunic, wide and long, reaching to the ankles, but without sleeves" (Isa. 59:17). The word so rendered is elsewhere rendered "robe" or "mantle." It was worn by the high priest under the ephod (Ex. 28:31), by kings and others of rank (1 Sam. 15:27; Job 1:20; 2:12), and by women (2 Sam. 13:18).
The word translated "cloke", i.e., outer garment, in Matt. 5:40 is in its plural form used of garments in general (Matt. 17:2; 26:65). The cloak mentioned here and in Luke 6:29 was the Greek himation, Latin pallium, and consisted of a large square piece of wollen cloth fastened round the shoulders, like the abba of the Arabs. This could be taken by a creditor (Ex. 22:26,27), but the coat or tunic (Gr. chiton) mentioned in Matt. 5:40 could not.
The cloak which Paul "left at Troas" (2 Tim. 4:13) was the Roman paenula, a thick upper garment used chiefly in travelling as a protection from the weather. Some, however, have supposed that what Paul meant was a travelling-bag. In the Syriac version the word used means a bookcase. (See Dress.)