GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 3 definitions

1.       
   Mask (mȧsk), n. [F. masque, LL. masca, mascha, mascus; cf. Sp. & Pg. máscara, It. maschera; all fr. Ar. maskharat buffoon, fool, pleasantry, anything ridiculous or mirthful, fr. sakhira to ridicule, to laugh at.  Cf. Masque, Masquerade.]
   1. A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection; as, “a dancer's mask; a fencer's mask; a ball player's mask.”
   
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   2. That which disguises; a pretext or subterfuge.
   
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   3. A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, where all wear masks; a masquerade; hence, a revel; a frolic; a delusive show.  Bacon.
   
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   This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask. Milton.
   
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   4. A dramatic performance, formerly in vogue, in which the actors wore masks and represented mythical or allegorical characters.
   
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   5. (Arch.) A grotesque head or face, used to adorn keystones and other prominent parts, to spout water in fountains, and the like; -- called also mascaron.
   
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   6. (Fort.) (a) In a permanent fortification, a redoubt which protects the caponiere. (b) A screen for a battery.
   
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   7. (Zool.) The lower lip of the larva of a dragon fly, modified so as to form a prehensile organ.
   
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   8. A person wearing a mask; a masker.
   
   The mask that has the arm of the Indian queen.  G. W. Cable.
   
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   9.  (Sporting) The head or face of a fox.
   
   Mask house, a house for masquerades. [Obs.] -- Death mask, a cast of the face of a dead person.
   
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2.       
   Mask, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Masked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Masking.]
   1. To cover, as the face, by way of concealment or defense against injury; to conceal with a mask or visor.
   
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   They must all be masked and vizarded. Shak.
   
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   2. To disguise; to cover; to hide.
   
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   Masking the business from the common eye. Shak.
   
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   3. (Mil.) (a) To conceal; also, to intervene in the line of. (b) To cover or keep in check; as, “to mask a body of troops or a fortress by a superior force, while some hostile evolution is being carried out”.
   
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3.       
   Mask, v. i.
   1. To take part as a masker in a masquerade.  Cavendish.
   
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   2. To wear a mask; to be disguised in any way.  Shak.
   
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