Home UK English shroud

Meaning of shroud in English:

shroud

Pronunciation /ʃraʊd/

See synonyms for shroud

Translate shroud into Spanish

noun

  • 1A length of cloth or an enveloping garment in which a dead person is wrapped for burial.

    ‘he was buried in a linen shroud’
    • ‘Nevertheless, the image is believed by many to be a negative image of the crucified Christ and the shroud is believed to be his burial shroud.’
    • ‘Sometimes the quilts are eventually used as a shroud for burial.’
    • ‘The burial shroud was lying where the body had been placed and the headpiece was folded neatly and put in a different part of the tomb.’
    • ‘The next day the body is washed, placed in shrouds (burial cloths), and laid on a bed for a final viewing.’
    • ‘The two men run to the tomb, find it empty, with the shroud and head cloth lying there separately, and, astonished, they return to their dwelling.’
    • ‘For such individuals, who viewed life as an opportunity to perfect themselves and the world, the shroud and the wedding garment are one.’
    • ‘Her burial shroud was tattered and ripped, her feet were stripped to the bone and a disgusting, black tongue wriggled around in her mouth.’
    • ‘Flags are bits of coloured cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people's brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.’
    • ‘Other important historical contexts for lavish works of this kind were the splendid funerary shrouds placed in royal burials.’
    • ‘Many of these rhetorical expressions are also woven into lambamena, or burial shrouds.’
    • ‘In the film she is shown wrapped in a burial shroud in her fathers arms - the nurses were sure she was going to die so her grave had already been dug.’
    • ‘The Ihram, the two unstitched pieces of white cloth that replace dress for men, reminds us of the burial shroud.’
    • ‘The Kapsiki people of northern Cameroon, for instance, keep a cattle breed (also known as Kapsiki) specially for the skins, which are made into burial shrouds.’
    • ‘The fact that vanillin can not be detected in the lignin on shroud fibers, Dead Sea scrolls linen, and other very old linens indicates that the shroud is quite old.’
    • ‘The body is ritually bathed and wrapped in a white shroud in preparation for burial.’
    • ‘Flowers are particularly prevalent, perhaps a harking back to an earlier source, the distinctive lambamena burial shroud.’
    • ‘Believers want to prove that the shroud is not art, that it is the one, true burial shroud.’
    • ‘The Bible tells that Christ's body was taken down from the cross, wrapped in a linen shroud and placed in his tomb.’
    • ‘The body is washed and wrapped in a shroud, then cloth, and then sometimes a felt rug.’
    • ‘Coffins were in use for the wealthy in the Middle Ages, but many people were buried simply in shrouds.’
    • ‘The dead are washed, wrapped in seamless shrouds, and buried in graves facing Mecca without coffins or markers.’
    • ‘The dead would seem to have gone to their pyres dressed rather than in shrouds.’
    winding sheet, grave clothes, burial clothes, cerements, chrisom
    View synonyms
    1. 1.1technical A protective casing or cover.
      ‘the trigger shroud prevents snagging on clothing’
      • ‘The slide is made of a stamping of chrome moly steel, with a machined steel breechblock segment, and covered with a polymer shroud.’
      • ‘Atop the external tank would sit a rocket stage and a 40-ton automated cargo lander covered by a streamlined shroud.’
      • ‘There is a protective shroud on top between the heatsink and the fan, which has a round opening to allow the air to get to the fins of the cooler from the fan.’
      • ‘A 180-degree turn of a small key inserted at the rear of the bolt shroud renders the rifle inert by locking the firing pin and bolt.’
      • ‘A tab on the shroud engaged a small slot in the frame to prevent it from turning and the rifling twist made everything self tightening.’
      • ‘The shroud is of the full-underlug style, enclosing and protecting the ejector rod.’
      • ‘The 5500 rpm 60 mm fan is mounted onto a metal shroud which is screwed into the base.’
      • ‘One of the interesting aspects of the fan construction is the fan shroud.’
      • ‘So the shroud is a useful feature designed to prevent an operator from burning himself on an overheated barrel.’
      • ‘The shroud and striker assembly can also be removed from the bolt body for maintenance without the use of tools.’
      • ‘Colonel Lewis put a tapered extension at the muzzle end so that blast overpressure will cause a vacuum and draw cooling air from the receiver end through the shroud as the gun is being fired.’
      • ‘When the gun is fired, the barrel moves backward inside the shroud.’
      • ‘Fujita cites a case two years ago when around 1,000 unskilled workers were hired by the Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power Plant to replace a core shroud in one of the plant's reactors.’
      • ‘Some of these include the usage of reflector shrouds and absorber material to improve pattern performance and shaped reflectors to improve pattern performance or gain.’
      • ‘In 1953 he designed the classic cast iron office tape dispenser in an elongated blocky base with circular shrouds gently sloping sides and a raised blade like a violin's bridge.’
      • ‘In conjunction with some hard foam strips, the chrome shrouds raise the fans away from the radiator surface to give a plenum area for each fan.’
      • ‘If the warm air is taken from shrouds around the engine exhaust pipes, it's called a carburetor-heat system.’
      • ‘The front housing portion comprises upper and lower grooved shrouds extending forwardly from the front wall.’
      • ‘The armoured shrouds on the four turbines looked tattered like ancient lace.’
      • ‘All shrouds must fully encapsulate the rear braces and the secondary roll-cage hoop on the sides and top; when viewed from the rear, the shroud must cover the complete visible roll-cage structure.’

  • 2A thing that envelops or obscures something.

    ‘ a shroud of mist’
    • ‘they operate behind a shroud of secrecy’
    • ‘Senate Minority Leader Senator Harry Reid invoked Rule 21 that forced senators to close the doors and operate in a shroud of secrecy.’
    • ‘Under a shroud of secrecy nearly two tons of nuclear and radioactive material were whisked away from Iraq and are now in an undisclosed secure Department of Energy site in the United States.’
    • ‘It is the only one of the top three farmer-controlled food firms who maintain a shroud of secrecy on their executive directors' pay packets.’
    • ‘The ships left Britain five weeks ago under a shroud of secrecy but it has proved impossible to keep their route secret.’
    • ‘A shroud of thick clouds obscured its furthest side, giving the illusion of infinitude.’
    • ‘If these happen to be the weaknesses that the team officials have been talking about, I wonder why did they prefer to wrap them in a shroud of secrecy.’
    • ‘She turned the knob and was enveloped in a shroud of fetid air as the door swung open.’
    • ‘A shroud of fog was over the city this morning - one of those ones where when I got up to work on the 28th floor, nothing could be seen out of the window except white.’
    • ‘A current of anticipation has carried a growing group of people to Celtic Park on a Wednesday afternoon, a shroud of optimism spread out in front of the stadium's doorsteps.’
    • ‘The guards ceased fire and looked up, they were momentarily blinded by the thin mist of steam but that didn't stop them from firing blindly out of the shroud of steam.’
    • ‘The recent cooperation between the Republic and the Confederacy after the Confederate Civil War was a start on lifting the shroud of hatred that separated Terrans and Gaians.’
    • ‘The morning sunshine gave way to a sombre shroud of grey clouds, which threatened rain but failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the boisterous crowd.’
    • ‘We must rid ourself of this psychological cloak of darkness before it becomes our shroud.’
    • ‘The clouds above formed a cloak of black, like a funeral shroud being shed over the battlefield.’
    • ‘Fog covers the mountains like a shroud and hides sudden drops.’
    • ‘Fear of homophobic retaliation will prevent us from making allies and lifting the shroud of ignorance from our oppressors.’
    • ‘The island was sighted by the ship at 0700 on the following morning, and the town itself was hardly discernible through a thick pall of smoke which hung like a shroud over the quiet streets.’
    • ‘Finally the shroud of thick trees abruptly ended, just as a curtain would, and there before them stood a yard of dark green-blue grass shimmering in already full sunlight.’
    • ‘The Lord will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.’
    • ‘The foulness of the air was a palpable thing, a reek that stunned and then settled upon the senses, a weapon and then a shroud.’
    covering, cover, pall, cloak, mask, mantle, blanket, sheet, layer, overlay, envelope, cloud, veil, screen, curtain, canopy
    View synonyms

  • 3shroudsA set of ropes forming part of the standing rigging of a sailing boat and supporting the mast or topmast.

    ‘The side decks are uncluttered except for the necessary genoa track and the mast shrouds are well inboard for easy passage and improved sheeting angles.’
    • ‘There is an anchor locker forward and rigging shrouds are well inboard for easy passage fore and aft.’
    • ‘The rig is a simple deck-stepped mast-head sloop with single upper shrouds and spreaders, double lower shrouds and split backstay.’
    • ‘No one saw the slightly built seaman come on deck and begin to climb the shrouds of the main mast.’
    • ‘Rigging shrouds are set well inboard to allow effective sheeting angles and easy passage on either side.’
    • ‘The sound of his voice brought numerous sailors from all parts of the ship, including the shrouds and mast.’
    • ‘The stairways are hung from the tree much like a sailboats shrouds hang from the mast.’
    • ‘Three upright ring shrouds, housing the air propellers and standing upright at the back of the ship, give the Zubr its distinctive appearance.’
    • ‘The slapping of shrouds against a mast where a cutter lay moored in the inner bay.’
    • ‘The task required us to remove the trailing-edge flap shrouds.’
    • ‘Seamen scrambled around the main deck, some climbing up the shrouds to tie the sails.’
    • ‘Additionally all the rigging, anchor ropes, cargo nets, fishing nets, flags and shrouds were produced from the canes.’
    • ‘Reaching the shrouds hanging from Kaliakra's starboard side, he began his ascent.’
    • ‘In the fresh wind the vibration of the shrouds as fifty men ran up the ratlines could be distinctly heard.’
    • ‘Unknown to her guardian, she spent the whole day climbing up and down the shrouds, gazing off the port bow and hauling with the rest of the crew.’
    1. 3.1Each of the lines joining the canopy of a parachute to the harness.
      ‘The wingtip snagged a shroud line and deflated the canopy.’
      • ‘The screw holds in the shroud line up easily with those in the heatsink base, and the four small screws supplied attach the cover firmly.’
      • ‘I unfortunately lost the pictures of his very slick bridles, but he has created two aerotow bridles from Spectra and Vectran lines in thicknesses used for shroud lines on parachutes.’
      • ‘Parachute shroud lines are made from cord-like Spectra kite line.’
      • ‘We had been instructed to steer by manipulating the shroud lines of the parachute, and I tried that without success.’
      • ‘Once in the water, the hoist promptly snarled in the parachute's shroud lines.’
      • ‘There have been several instances that we know of where a spinning glider twisted the bridle so many times that eventually the shroud lines also twisted and closed the parachute.’
      • ‘It was a sickening sight, and I could imagine the frantic efforts he must have made pulling on his shroud lines before the earth crushed him.’
      • ‘He cut the shroud lines and tied them to a couple of trees to mark a spot that could be seen from the air.’

verb

[with object]

  • 1Wrap or dress (a body) in a shroud for burial.

    ‘the body was washed and shrouded’
    • ‘Thousands more thronged to the college where Mahendra's body was laid, shrouded in a red flag.’

  • 2Cover or envelop so as to conceal from view.

    ‘mountains shrouded by cloud’
    • ‘the mystery which shrouds the origins of the universe’
    • ‘The whole mountain is shrouded by clouds and mist, which the wind blows into various strange shapes.’
    • ‘I'd noticed earlier that the alley we share had a lot of bricks scattered around, but a curtain shrouds my view of the actual wall.’
    • ‘Altair craned his head around in an attempt to steal one last glance, but before he could, he found a veil of fog shrouding his view.’
    • ‘Stars began to speckle the light sky, clouds shrouding the mountains in the east.’
    • ‘Zemya trudged unawares closer and closer to the edge of the jagged path, everywhere being shrouded by mountain clouds.’
    • ‘It rains for much of the evening and our view of Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, is shrouded behind dense clouds.’
    • ‘The sun was already high in a cloudless blue sky, a heat haze shrouded the surrounding mountains.’
    • ‘Howling wind blew fiercely from all directions as thick clouds covered the sky, shrouding the graveyard in an almost complete darkness.’
    • ‘While the execution of the shuffle is straightforward, its origins are shrouded in mystery.’
    • ‘His origins are shrouded in mystery, though it seems quite possible that he was the result of a union between a man and a woman.’
    • ‘His face was still shrouded in darkness, covered by the hood of a cloak, but from his back sprung a pair of wings.’
    • ‘Clegg, near Wardle, and the surrounding area is shrouded in mystery.’
    • ‘If a view of a vast cloud of mist shrouding everything around you is amazing, then he was right.’
    • ‘They were supposed to be taking notes but Charlotte was sketching some abstract designs in the margin, her short dull hair falling about her eyes, shrouding her from the view of the classroom.’
    • ‘The stages we set in small pockets of space within the forest, with a back drop of wooded mountains shrouded in low cloud.’
    • ‘Updated Lower Manhattan is shrouded in soot and covered in ash and debris.’
    • ‘To our right Ben Nevis guarded the loch, but we never saw the mountain, shrouded in low rain clouds and mist.’
    • ‘Although all too often it is shrouded in clouds, Machu Picchu is perched on a mountain 8,000 ft above sea level.’
    • ‘The origins of the flat square stone are shrouded in mystery.’
    • ‘It is ironic, then, that the origins of this curious term are shrouded in mystery.’
    cover, envelop, veil, cloak, curtain, swathe, wrap, blanket, screen, cloud, mantle, conceal, hide, disguise, mask, obscure, surround, overlay, clothe
    View synonyms

Origin

Late Old English scrūd ‘garment, clothing’, of Germanic origin, from a base meaning ‘cut’; related to shred. An early sense of the verb (Middle English) was ‘cover so as to protect’.