Cloak

n. [L. Lat. cloca, a kind of garment peculiar to horsemen and travelers; O. Fr. cloche; Gael. cleoc, cleochd, cleocan. See CLOCK.] 1. A loose, outer garment worn over other clothes both by men and women. Their cloaks were cloth of silver mixed with gold. Dryden. 2. That which conceals; a disguise or pretext; an excuse; a fair pretense. No man is esteemed any ways considerable for policy who wears religion otherwise than as a cloak. South.

v. t. [imp. & p. p. CLOAKED (klōkt); p. pr. & vb. n. CLOAKING.] To cover with a cloak; hence, to hide or conceal. Now glooming sadly, so to cloak her matter. Spencer. Syn.—See PALLIATE.