mantle
Noun · VerbOpen English WordNet
Noun (8)
- the cloak as a symbol of authority“place the mantle of authority on younger shoulders”Type of symbol
- United States baseball player (1931-1997)Synonyms: Mickey MantleMickey Charles MantleInstance of ballplayer, baseball player
- the layer of the earth between the crust and the coreType of layerPart of lithosphere, geosphereParts upper mantle, lower mantle
- anything that covers“there was a blanket of snow”Synonyms: blanketType of covering, natural covering
- (zoology) a protective layer of epidermis in mollusks or brachiopods that secretes a substance forming the shellSynonyms: palliumType of epidermis, cuticle
- shelf that projects from wall above fireplaceSynonyms: mantelmantelpiecemantlepiecechimneypieceType of shelfPart of fireplace, hearth
- hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)Synonyms: curtaindrapedraperypall
- a sleeveless garment like a cloak but shorterSynonyms: cape
Verb (2)mantled, mantling
- spread over a surface, like a mantleMore general diffuse, spread
- cover like a mantle“The ivy mantles the building”More general cover, spread over
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: 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.
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.— Francis, Baron Verulam Bacon
The green mantle of the standing pool.— William Shakespeare
Now Nature hangs her mantle green On every blooming tree.— Robert Burns
2. Heraldry Same as Mantling.
3. Zoology (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. Architecture A mantel. See Mantel.
5. The outer wall and casing of a blast furnace, above the hearth. Raymond, Rossiter Worthington
6. Hydraulic Engin. A penstock for a water wheel.
7. Geology The highly viscous shell of hot semisolid rock, about 1800 miles thick, lying under the crust of the Earth and above the core. Also, by analogy, a similar shell on any other planet.
To cover or envelop, as with a mantle; to cloak; to hide; to disguise. William Shakespeare
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.— Edmund Spenser
Or tend his sparhawk mantling in her mew.— Bp. Joseph Hall
My frail fancy fed with full delight. Doth bathe in bliss, and mantleth most at ease.— Edmund Spenser
2. To spread out; — said of wings.
The swan, with arched neck Between her white wings mantling proudly, rows.— John 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 Walter 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.— William Shakespeare
Nor bowl of wassail mantle warm.— Alfred Tennyson
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54 · with additions: GCIDE editors