Hide, v. t. [imp. Hid; p. p. Hidden, Hid; p. pr. & vb. n. Hiding.]
Etymology: [OE. hiden, huden, AS. h; akin to Gr. house, hut, and perh. to E. hide of an animal, and to hoard. Cf. Hoard.]
1. To conceal, or withdraw from sight; to put out of view; to secrete. A city that is set on an hill can not be hid. Matt. v. 15. If circumstances lead me, I will find Where truth is hid. Shak.
2. To withhold from knowledge; to keep secret; to refrain from avowing or confessing. Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate. Pope.
3. To remove from danger; to shelter. In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion. Ps. xxvi. 5. To hide one's self, to put one's self in a condition to be safe; to secure protection. "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself." Prov. xxii. 3. -- To hide the face, to withdraw favor. "Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." Ps. xxx. 7. -- To hide the face from. (a) To overlook; to pardon. "Hide thy face from my sins." Ps. li. 9. (b) To withdraw favor from; to be displeased with.
Syn. -- To conceal; secrete; disguise; dissemble; screen; cloak; mask; veil. See Conceal.
4 other Webster entries under this spelling
Hide, v. i.
To lie concealed; to keep one's self out of view; to be withdrawn from sight or observation. Bred to disguise, in public 'tis you hide. Pope. Hide and seek, a play of children, in which some hide themselves, and others seek them. Swift.
Hide, n.
(O. Eng. Law.) (a) An abode or dwelling. (b) A measure of land, common in Domesday Book and old English charters, the quantity of which is not well ascertained, but has been differently estimated at 80, 100, and 120 acres. [Written also hyde.]
Hide, n.
1. The skin of an animal, either raw or dressed; -- generally applied to the undressed skins of the larger domestic animals, as oxen, horses, etc.
2. The human skin; -- so called in contempt. O tiger's heart, wrapped in a woman's hide! Shak.
Hide, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hided; p. pr. & vb. n. Hiding.]
To flog; to whip. [Prov. Eng. & Low, U. S.]
Shades of meaning
Hide is the general term, including all the rest, signifying to put out of sight or beyond ready observation or approach; a thing may be hidden by intention, by accident, or by the imperfection of the faculties of the one from whom it is hidden; in their games, children hide the slipper, or hide themselves from each other; a man unconsciously hides a picture from another by standing before it, or hides a thing from himself by laying something else over it. Even an unconscious object may hide another; as, a cloud hides the sun, or a building hides some part of the prospect by intervening between it and the observer's position. As an act of persons, to conceal is always intentional; one may hide his face in anger, grief, or abstraction; he conceals his face when he fears recognition. A house is hidden by foliage; the bird's nest is artfully concealed. Secrete is a stronger word than conceal, and is used chiefly of such material objects as may be separated from the person, or from their ordinary surroundings, and put in unlooked-for places; a man conceals a scar on his face, but does not secrete it; a thief secretes stolen goods; an officer may also be said to secrete himself to watch the thief. A thing is covered by putting something over or around it, whether by accident or design; it is screened by putting something before it, always with some purpose of protection from observation, inconvenience, attack, censure, etc. In the figurative use, a person may hide honorable feelings; he conceals an evil or hostile intent. Anything which is effectually covered and hidden under any mass or accumulation is buried. Money is buried in the ground; a body is buried in the sea; a paper is buried under other documents. Whatever is buried is hidden or concealed; but there are many ways of hiding or concealing a thing without burying it. So a person may be covered with wraps, and not buried under them. Bury may be used of any object, entomb and inter only of a dead body. Figuratively, one may be said to be buried in business, in study, etc. Compare immerse; palliate.