What does "shroud" mean?
That which clothes, covers, conceals, or protects; a garment.
Shroud
/ʃraʊd/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: That which clothes, covers, conceals, or protects; a garment.
- Grammar: shroud is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: cover, advocate, alpenstock, apparel.
- Useful contrasts: clarify, clarity, expose.
- Usage evidence: Some say the Shroud of Turin is a photo made by Leonardo da Vinci using a camera obscura.
How to use "shroud"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "shroud" 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 "shroud" 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 "shroud" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "shroud" 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 "shroud" is acting as noun, verb 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 "cover" 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 "shroud", 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 That which clothes, covers, conceals, or protects; a garment.
"swaddled, as new born, in sable shrouds"
- 2 The branching top of a tree; foliage.
"Behold, the Assyrian was a Cedar in Lebanon with faire branches, and with a shadowing shrowd, and of an hie stature, and his top was among the thicke boughes."
- 3 burial garment in which a corpse is wrapped wordnet
- 4 Especially, the dress for the dead; a winding sheet.
"O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris, From off the battlements of any tower, […] Or bid me go into a new-made grave And hide me with a dead man in his shroud […]"
- 5 (nautical) a line (rope or chain) that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind wordnet
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 That which covers or shelters like a shroud.
"Jura answers through her misty shroud."
- 7 a line that suspends the harness from the canopy of a parachute wordnet
- 8 A covered place used as a retreat or shelter, as a cave or den; also, a vault or crypt.
"The shroud to which he won / His fair-eyed oxen."
- 9 One of a set of ropes or cables (rigging) attaching a mast to the sides of a vessel or to another anchor point, serving to support the mast sideways; such rigging collectively.
"Then - a shock of water, a wild rush of boiling foam, and I was clinging for my life to the shroud, ay, swept straight out from it like a flag in a gale."
- 10 One of the two annular plates at the periphery of a water wheel, which form the sides of the buckets; a shroud plate.
- 11 A streamlined protective covering used to protect the payload during a rocket-powered launch.
Verb
- 1 To cover with a shroud.
"The ancient Egyptian mummies were shrouded in a number of folds of linen besmeared with gums."
- 2 To lop the branches from (a tree). UK, dialectal, transitive
- 3 wrap in a shroud wordnet
- 4 To conceal or hide from view, as if by a shroud.
"The details of the plot were shrouded in mystery."
- 5 cover as if with a shroud wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To take shelter or harbour.
"If your stray attendance be yet lodged, / Or shroud within these limits."
- 7 form a cover like a shroud wordnet
Example
"Some say the Shroud of Turin is a photo made by Leonardo da Vinci using a camera obscura."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "shroud"?
Common synonyms include: cover, advocate, alpenstock, apparel, arm, armor.
How do you use "shroud" in a sentence?
Some say the Shroud of Turin is a photo made by Leonardo da Vinci using a camera obscura.
How do you pronounce "shroud"?
Pronounced /ʃraʊd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English shroud, from Old English sċrūd, from Proto-Germanic *skrūdą. Cognate with Old Norse skrúð (“the shrouds of a ship”) ( > Danish, Norwegian skrud (“splendid attire”)).
Etymology 2
From Middle English schrouden (> Anglo-Latin scrudāre), from Middle English schroud (“shroud”) (see above).
Etymology 3
Variant of shred.