cove Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a small inlet
  2. noun small or narrow cave in the side of a cliff or mountain

WordNet

Cove noun
Etymology
AS. cofa room; akin to G. koben pigsty, orig., hut, Icel kofi hut, and perh. to E. cobalt.
Definitions
  1. A retired nook; especially, a small, sheltered inlet, creek, or bay; a recess in the shore.
    Vessels which were in readiness for him within secret coves and nooks. Holland.
  2. A strip of prairie extending into woodland; also, a recess in the side of a mountain. U.S.
  3. (Arch.) (a) A concave molding. (b) A member, whose section is a concave curve, used especially with regard to an inner roof or ceiling, as around a skylight.
Cove transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Coved present participle & verbal noun Coving
Definitions
  1. (Arch.) 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. H. Swinburne.
Cove transitive verb
Etymology
CF. F. couver, It. covare. See Covey.
Definitions
  1. To brood, cover, over, or sit over, as birds their eggs. Obs.
    Not being able to cove or sit upon them [eggs], she [the female tortoise] bestoweth them in the gravel. Holland.
Cove noun
Etymology
A gypsy word, covo that man, covi that woman.
Definitions
  1. A boy or man of any age or station. Slang
    There's a gentry cove here. Wit's Recreations (1654).
    Now, look to it, coves, that all the beef and drink Be not filched from us. Mrs. Browning.

Webster 1913