What does "cove" mean?
A hollow in a rock; a cave or cavern.
Cove
/koʊv/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A hollow in a rock; a cave or cavern.
- Grammar: cove is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abri, adamite, alcove, antre.
- Useful contrasts: blone, covess, enemy.
- Usage evidence: Down the coast from the shingle beach was a secluded cove.
How to use "cove"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "cove" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "cove" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "cove" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "cove" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "cove" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abri" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "cove", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A hollow in a rock; a cave or cavern. uncommon
- 2 A fellow; a man. British, Lewis, dated, informal
"Don’t call Major Pendennis an old cove, if you’ll ’ave the goodness, Lightfoot, and don’t call me an old cove, nether. Such words ain’t used in society; and we have lived in the fust society, both at ’ome and foring."
- 3 a small inlet wordnet
- 4 A concave vault or archway, especially the arch of a ceiling.
- 5 A friend; a mate. Australia, Polari
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 small or narrow cave in the side of a cliff or mountain wordnet
- 7 A small coastal inlet, especially one having high cliffs protecting vessels from prevailing winds; bight.
"secret coves and noukes"
- 8 A strip of prairie extending into woodland. US
- 9 A recess or sheltered area on the slopes of a mountain. Cumbria
- 10 The wooden roof of the stern gallery of an old sailing warship.
- 11 A thin line, sometimes gilded, along a yacht's strake below deck level.
- 12 A valley between two ridges, especially one that, opening to the south and east, is protected by ridges on the north and west from common winter storm tracks. Appalachia
"They were, despite their ignorance, unavoidably prosperous since their farm occupied a wide piece of cove bottom with dirt so black and rich it would raise sweet potatoes as long as your arm[.]"
Verb
- 1 To arch over; to build in a hollow concave form; to make in the form of a cove.
"The mosques and other buildings of the Arabians are rounded into domes and coved roofs."
- 2 Of a bird or other animal: to brood, cover, incubate, or sit over (eggs). ambitransitive, obsolete
"Moreover, the provident care of the tortoiſe in the generation, nouriſhment and preſervation of [h]er yooung, is vvoonderfull: for out ſhe goeth of the ſea, and laieth her egges or caſteth her ſpavvne upon the banke ſide; but being not able to cove or ſit upon them, nor to remaine herſelfe upon the land out of the ſea any long time, ſhe beſtovveth them in the gravell, and aftervvards covereth them vvith the lighteſt and fineſt ſand ſhe can get: […]"
Proper Noun
- 1 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Apache County, Arizona. countable, uncountable
- 2 The official active supporters' group of Sydney FC (an Australian soccer club based in Sydney). Australia
- 3 A number of places in the United States:; A town in Polk County, Arkansas. countable, uncountable
- 4 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in McDonald County, Missouri. countable, uncountable
- 5 A number of places in the United States:; A minor city in Union County, Oregon. countable, uncountable
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 A number of places in the United States:; A minor city in Chambers County, Texas. countable, uncountable
- 7 A number of places in the United States:; A census-designated place in Cache County, Utah. countable, uncountable
- 8 A small village in Tiverton parish, Mid Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SS9519). countable, uncountable
- 9 A suburb of Farnborough, Hampshire, England (OS grid ref SU8556). countable, uncountable
- 10 Three villages in Scotland:; A coastal village on the Rosneath peninsula, Argyll and Bute council area (OS grid ref NS2282). countable, uncountable
- 11 Three villages in Scotland:; A hamlet on Loch Ewe, Highland council area (OS grid ref NG8090). countable, uncountable
- 12 Three villages in Scotland:; A coastal village near Cockburnspath, Scottish Borders council area (OS grid ref NT7871). countable, uncountable
- 13 Three villages in Scotland:; Ellipsis of Cove Bay, Aberdeen. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
- 14 A habitational surname from Old English. countable, uncountable
Example
"Down the coast from the shingle beach was a secluded cove."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "cove"?
Common synonyms include: abri, adamite, alcove, antre, apse, arcade.
How do you use "cove" in a sentence?
Down the coast from the shingle beach was a secluded cove.
How do you pronounce "cove"?
Pronounced /koʊv/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English cove, from Old English cofa (“chamber; den”), from Proto-West Germanic *kobō, from Proto-Germanic *kubô. Cognate with Dutch koof (“cove”), German Low German Koov (“small room”), German Koben (“nook, shed”), Icelandic kofi (“hut, shack”). This word has probably survived as long as it has due to its coincidental phonetic resemblance to the unrelated word English cave. Also unrelated to Spanish cueva, which itself is a cognate of cave.
Etymology 2
Britain ante-1570. From Romani kodo (“this one, him”), perhaps change in consonants due to lower class th-fronting, or Romani kova (“that person”).
Etymology 3
Borrowed from French couver, from Old French cover (“to hatch (eggs)”), from Latin cubāre (“to lie down, recline; to incubate; to be broody”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb- (“to lie down”). Cognates * Italian covare
Etymology 4
From Old English cofa (“cave, cove, hollow, cavern”).
Etymology 5
From Sydney Cove.