Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COV'ER-LET, n. [cover, and Fr. lit, a bed.]

The cover of a bed; a piece of furniture designed to be spread over all the other covering of a bed. – Dryden.

COV'ER-SHAME, n.

Something used to conceal infamy. – Dryden.

COV'ER-SLUT, n.

Something to hide sluttishness. – Burke.

COV'ERT, a. [Fr. couvert, participle of couvrir, to cover.]

1. Covered; hid; private; secret; concealed. Whether of open war, or covert guile. – Milton.
2. Disguised; insidious.
3. Sheltered; not open or exposed; as, a covert alley or place. – Bacon. Pope.
4. Under cover, authority or protection; as, a feme-covert, a married woman who is considered as being under the influence and protection of her husband.

COV'ERT, n.

1. A covering, or covering place; a place which covers and shelters; a shelter; a defense. A tabernacle … for a covert from storm and rain. – Isa. iv. I will trust in the covert of thy wings. – Ps. lxi.
2. A thicket; a shady place, or a hiding place. – 1 Sam. xxv. Job xxxviii.

COV'ERT-LY, adv.

Secretly; closely; in private; insidiously. Among the poets, Persius covertly strikes at Nero. – Dryden.

COV'ERT-NESS, n.

Secrecy; privacy.

COV'ERT-URE, n.

1. Covering; shelter; defense. – Milton. Bacon.
2. In law, the state of a married woman, who is considered as under cover, or the power of her husband, and therefore called a feme-covert or femme-couvert. The coverture of a woman a disables her from making contracts to the prejudice of herself or husband, without his allowance or confirmation.

COV'ERT-WAY, n.

In fortification, a space of ground level with the field, on the edge of the ditch, three or four fathoms broad, ranging quite round the half moons or other works, toward the country. It has a parapet raised on a level, together with its banquets and glacis. It is called also the corridor, and sometimes the counterscarp, because it is on the edge of the scarp. – Harris. Encyc.

COV'ET, v.i.

To have an earnest desire. – 1 Tim. vi.

COV'ET, v.t. [Fr. convoiter, to covet; Norm. coveitant, covetous; covetise, greediness; W. cybyz, a covetous man; cybyzu, to covet. The Welsh word is pronounced cybythu; and cy has the power of con, and may be a contraction of it. The last constituent part of the word coincides in elements with the Latin peto, and more nearly with the Gr. ποθεω, to desire.]

1. To desire or wish for, with eagerness; to desire earnestly to obtain or possess; in a good sense. Covet earnestly the best gifts.v1 Cor. xii.
2. To desire inordinately; to desire that which it is unlawful to obtain or possess; in a bad sense. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, wife or servant. – Ex. xx.

COV'ET-A-BLE, a.

That may be coveted.

COV'ET-ED, pp.

Earnestly desired; greatly wished or longed for.

COV'ET-ER, n.

One who covets.

COV'ET-ING, n.

Inordinate desire. – Shak.

COV'ET-ING, ppr.

Earnestly desiring or wishing for; desiring inordinately to obtain or possess.

COV'ET-ING-LY, adv.

With eager desire to possess.

COV'ET-ISE, n.

Avarice. [Not in use.] – Spenser.

COV'E'T-OUS, a. [Fr. convoiteux.]

1. Very desirous; eager to obtain; in a good sense; as, covetous of wisdom, virtue or learning. – Taylor. Shak.
2. Inordinately desirous; excessively eager to obtain and possess; directed to money or goods, avaricious. A bishop then must not be covetous. – 1 Tim. iii.

COV'ET-OUS-LY, adv.

With a strong or inordinate desire to obtain and possess; eagerly; avariciously.

COV'ET-OUS-NESS, n.

1. A strong or inordinate desire of obtaining and possessing some supposed good; usually in a bad sense, and applied to an inordinate desire of wealth or avarice. Out of the heart proceedeth covetousness. – Mark vii. Mortify your members … and covetousness which is idolatry. – Col. iii.
2. Strong desire; eagerness. – Shak.

COV'EY, n. [Fr. couvée, a brood; couver, to sit on or brood, to lurk or lie hid; It. covare; Sp. cobijar, to brood, to cover; L. cubo, incubo. See Class Gb, No. 14, 25, 31, 36, 88.]

1. A brood or hatch of birds; an old fowl with her brood of young. Hence, a small flock or number of fowls together; as a covey of partridges. – Addison.
2. A company; a set.

CO'VIN, n. [Qu. Ar. غَبَنَ gabana, to defraud. More probably this word belongs to some verb in Gb, signifying to conceal, or to agree. In Norm. Fr. covyne is a secret place or meeting.]

In law, a collusive or deceitful agreement between two or more to prejudice a third person. – Encyc. Cowel.

CO'VING, n. [See Cove.]

In building, a term denoting an arch or arched projecture, as when houses are built so as to project over the ground-plot, and the turned projecture arched with timber, lathed and plastered. – Harris. Johnson.

CO'VIN-OUS, a.

Deceitful; collusive; fraudulent.