What does "mask" mean?
Mask: That which disguises; a pretext or subterfuge.
Additional senses
- 2.A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, where all wear masks; a masquerade; hence, a revel; a frolic; a delusive show. Bacon. This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask. Milton.
- 3.A dramatic performance, formerly in vogue, in which the actors wore masks and represented mythical or allegorical characters.
- 4.(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.
- 5.(Fort.) (a) In a permanent fortification, a redoubt which protects the caponiere. (b) A screen for a battery.
- 6.(Zoöl.) The lower lip of the larva of a dragon fly, modified so as to form a prehensile organ. Mask house, a house for masquerades. [Obs.]
- 7.To cover, as the face, by way of concealment or defense against injury; to conceal with a mask or visor. They must all be masked and vizarded. Shak.
- 8.To disguise; to cover; to hide. Masking the business from the common eye. Shak.
- 9.(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 fortess by a superior force, while some hostile evolution is being carried out.
- 10.To take part as a masker in a masquerade. Cavendish.
- 11.To wear a mask; to be disguised in any way. Shak.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
- Canonical URL: https://worddirectanswers.com/answers/what-does-mask-mean
- Steward: Jason Burns
- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00