English Explanatory Dictionary

mask

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection.
  2. That which disguises; a pretext or subterfuge.
  3. Appearance, likeness.
  4. A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, where all wear masks; a masquerade.
  5. A person wearing a mask.
  6. A dramatic performance in which the actors wore masks and represented mythical or allegorical characters.
  7. A grotesque head or face, used to adorn keystones and other prominent parts, to spout water in fountains, and the like.
  8. In a permanent fortification, a redoubt which protects the caponiere.
  9. A screen for a battery.
  10. The lower lip of the larva of a dragonfly, modified so as to form a prehensile organ.
  11. A flat covering used to block off an unwanted portion of a scene or image.
  12. A pattern of bits used in bitwise operations; bitmask.
verb
  1. To cover (the face or something else), in order to conceal the identity or protect against injury; to cover with a mask or visor.
  2. To disguise as something else.
  3. To conceal from view or knowledge; to cover; to hide.
  4. To conceal; also, to intervene in the line of.
  5. To cover or keep in check.
  6. To take part as a masker in a masquerade.
  7. To put on a mask; to wear a mask.
  8. To disguise oneself, to be disguised in any way.
  9. To conceal or disguise one's autism; to learn, practice, and perform certain behaviors and suppress others in order to appear more neurotypical.
  10. To cover or shield something, or a portion of something, so as to prevent reproduction or to safeguard the surface from the colors used when working with an air brush or painting.
  11. To set or unset (certain bits, or binary digits, within a value) by means of a bitmask.
  12. To disable (an interrupt, etc.) by setting or unsetting the associated bit.
noun
  1. Mesh.
  2. The mesh of a net; a net; net-bag.
noun
  1. Mash.
verb
  1. To mash.
  2. (brewing) To mix malt with hot water to yield wort.
  3. To be infused or steeped.
  4. To prepare tea in a teapot; alternative to brew.
  5. To prepare (to storm).
verb
  1. To bewilder; confuse.

Pronunciation

/mɑːsk/ /mask/ /mæsk/ en-us-mask.ogg

Word forms

mask masks masque masking masked

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French masque (“a covering to hide or protect the face”), from Italian maschera (“mask, disguise”), from (a byform of, see it for more) Medieval Latin masca, mascha, a borrowing of Proto-West Germanic *maskā, from which English mesh and mask (“mesh”) (below at Etymology 2) are inherited. Doublet of masque and mesh. Replaced Old English grīma (“mask”), whence grime, and displaced non-native Middle English viser (“visor, mask”) borrowed from Old French viser, visier.

Synonyms

vizard mascaron mask up mask off

Related words

mascara masking tape masquerade

Derived words

antimask anti-mask antimasker bag valve mask bar mask beard mask bemask birdcage mask catcher's mask comedy mask deathmask death mask demask dismask diving mask domino mask drama mask dust mask eye mask eyemask face mask facemask facial mask filemask finger mask flu mask gas mask gasmask hair mask half mask half-mask Hannibal Lecter mask hostmask immask Jason mask keymask life mask lion mask maskability mask acne maskee maskery maskette maskfish maskful maskhole mask house maskless masklike maskmaker maskne mask-off moment mask of pregnancy mask shell masktard maskurbator mask work Nablus mask-like facial syndrome nanomask nano mask

Translations

Chinese Mandarin: 蒙版 Finnish: maski Portuguese: máscara Spanish: capa Swedish: genomskinlighetsmask Bulgarian: маскирам се Catalan: emmascarar Dutch: maskeren Finnish: peittää Finnish: naamioida German: maskieren Icelandic: gríma Māori: hīpoki Romanian: masca Spanish: enmascarar
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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