mantle Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the cloak as a symbol of authority
    • place the mantle of authority on younger shoulders
  2. noun United States baseball player (1931-1997)
    Mickey Mantle; Mickey Charles Mantle.
  3. noun the layer of the earth between the crust and the core
  4. noun anything that covers
    blanket.
    • there was a blanket of snow
  5. noun (zoology) a protective layer of epidermis in mollusks or brachiopods that secretes a substance forming the shell
    pallium.
  6. noun shelf that projects from wall above fireplace
    mantelpiece; chimneypiece; mantlepiece; mantel.
    • in Britain they call a mantel a chimneypiece
  7. noun hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)
    curtain; drape; pall; drapery.
  8. noun a sleeveless garment like a cloak but shorter
    cape.
  9. verb spread over a surface, like a mantle
  10. verb cover like a mantle
    • The ivy mantles the building

WordNet

Man"tle noun
Etymology
OE. mantel, OF. mantel, F. manteau, fr. L. mantellum, mantelum, a cloth, napkin, cloak, mantle (cf. mantele, mantile, towel, napkin); prob. from manus hand + the root of tela cloth. See Manual, Textile, and cf. Mandil, Mantel, Mantilla.
Definitions
  1. A loose garment to be worn over other garments; an enveloping robe; a cloak. Hence, figuratively, a covering or concealing envelope.
    [The] children are clothed with mantles of satin. Bacon.
    The green mantle of the standing pool. Shak.
    Now Nature hangs her mantle green On every blooming tree. Burns.
  2. (Her.) Same as Mantling.
  3. (Zoöl.) (a) The external fold, or folds, of the soft, exterior membrane of the body of a mollusk. It usually forms a cavity inclosing the gills. See Illusts. of Buccinum, and Byssus. (b) Any free, outer membrane. (c) The back of a bird together with the folded wings.
  4. (Arch.) A mantel. See Mantel.
  5. The outer wall and casing of a blast furnace, above the hearth. Raymond.
  6. (Hydraulic Engin.) A penstock for a water wheel.
Man"tle transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Mantled ; present participle & verbal noun Mantling
Definitions
  1. To cover or envelop, as with a mantle; to cloak; to hide; to disguise. Shak.
Man"tle intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To unfold and spread out the wings, like a mantle; -- said of hawks. Also used figuratively.
    Ne is there hawk which mantleth on her perch. Spenser.
    Or tend his sparhawk mantling in her mew. Bp. Hall.
    My frail fancy fed with full delight. Doth bathe in bliss, and mantleth most at ease. Spenser.
  2. To spread out; -- said of wings.
    The swan, with arched neck Between her white wings mantling proudly, rows. Milton.
  3. To spread over the surface as a covering; to overspread; as, the scum mantled on the pool.
    Though mantled in her cheek the blood. Sir W. Scott.
  4. To gather, assume, or take on, a covering, as froth, scum, etc.
    There is a sort of men whose visages Do cream and mantle like a standing pond. Shak.
    Nor bowl of wassail mantle warm. Tennyson.

Webster 1913