What does "hide" mean?
The skin of an animal.
Hide
/haɪd/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The skin of an animal.
- Grammar: hide is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: pelt, skin, accumulate, afrikaans leer.
- Useful contrasts: bare earth wire, bare surface, behavioral demo.
- Usage evidence: You are saying you intentionally hide your good looks?
How to use "hide"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hide" 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 "hide" 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 "hide" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hide" 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 "hide" is acting as 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 "pelt" 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 "hide", 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 The skin of an animal. countable
- 2 A unit of land and tax assessment of varying size, originally as intended to support one household with dependents. historical
"The exact size of hides varied with soil quality, but each one generally encompassed 24 to 26 hectares."
- 3 body covering of a living animal wordnet
- 4 The human skin. derogatory, obsolete
"O tiger's heart, wrapped in a woman's hide!"
- 5 the dressed skin of an animal (especially a large animal) wordnet
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 One's own life or personal safety, especially when in peril. US, informal, metonymically, uncountable, usually
"to save his own hide"
- 7 (mainly British) A covered structure from which hunters, birdwatchers, etc can observe animals without scaring them. countable
"A Forest Trail and wild life hides lie 2 miles to the north-east. Blue hares, deer, wild geese, herons and duck can be discreetly observed from the hides."
- 8 A secret room for hiding oneself or valuables; a hideaway. countable
"In the early days of American settlement, hides were built into houses to provide protection from the Indians and to conceal merchandise from the threat of taxation or thievery."
- 9 A covered structure to which a pet animal can retreat, as is recommended for snakes. countable
Verb
- 1 To put (something) in a place where it will be out of sight or harder to discover. transitive
"He hides his magazines under the bed."
- 2 To beat with a whip made from hide.
"He ran last week, and he was hided, and he was out on the day before yesterday, and here he is once more, and he knows he's got to run and to be hided again."
- 3 make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing wordnet
- 4 To put oneself in a place where one will be out of sight or harder to find. intransitive
"Nonetheless, some insect prey take advantage of clutter by hiding in it. Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them."
- 5 cover as if with a shroud wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 prevent from being seen or discovered wordnet
- 7 be or go into hiding; keep out of sight, as for protection and safety wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"You are saying you intentionally hide your good looks?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hide"?
Common synonyms include: pelt, skin, accumulate, afrikaans leer, amass, assume.
How do you use "hide" in a sentence?
You are saying you intentionally hide your good looks?
How do you pronounce "hide"?
Pronounced /haɪd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English hiden, huden, from Old English hȳdan (“to hide, conceal, preserve”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūdijan (“to conceal”), from Proto-Germanic *hūdijaną (“to conceal”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewdʰ- (“to cover, wrap, encase”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover”). The verb was originally weak. In the King James Version of the Bible (1611), both hid and hidden are used for the past participle. Cognates Cognate with Dutch huiden, Low German (ver)hüden, (ver)hüen (“to hide, cover, conceal”), Welsh cuddio (“to hide”), Latin custōs, Ancient Greek κεύθω (keúthō, “to conceal”), Sanskrit कुहरम् (kuharam, “cave”). Related to hut and sky.
Etymology 2
From Middle English hyde, from Old English hȳd, from Proto-West Germanic *hūdi, from Proto-Germanic *hūdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *kéw(H)tis (“skin, hide”) (compare Latin cutis (“skin, rind, hide”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kew(H)- (“to cover”), ultimately the same root as the above etymology. More at sky. Cognates See also West Frisian hûd, Dutch huid, German Haut, Danish hud, Welsh cwd (“scrotum”), Latin cutis (“skin”), Lithuanian kutys (“purse, money-belt”), Ancient Greek κύτος (kútos, “hollow vessel”), σκῦτος (skûtos, “cover, hide”).
Etymology 3
From Middle English hide, from Old English hīd, hȳd, hīġed, hīġid (“a measure of land”), for earlier *hīwid (“the amount of land needed to support one family”), a derivative of Proto-Germanic *hīwaz, *hīwō (“relative, fellow-lodger, family”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“to lie with, store, be familiar”). Related to Old English hīwisc (“hide of land, household”), Old English hīwan (“members of a family, household”). More at hewe, hind.