| mantle | |
| 1. s. A piece of clothing somewhat like an open robe or cloak, especially that worn by Orthodox bishops. (Compare mantum.) | |
| 2. s. (figuratively) A figurative garment representing authority or status, capable of affording protection. | |
| At the meeting, she finally assumed the mantle of leadership of the party. | |
| The movement strove to put women under the protective mantle of civil rights laws. | |
| 3. s. (figuratively) Anything that covers or conceals something else; a cloak. | |
| 4. s. (malacology) The body wall of a mollusc, from which the shell is secreted. | |
| 5. s. (ornithology) The back of a bird together with the folded wings. | |
| 6. s. The zone of hot gases around a flame. | |
| 7. s. A gauzy fabric impregnated with metal nitrates, used in some kinds of gas and oil lamps and lanterns, which forms a rigid but fragile mesh of metal oxides when heated during initial use and then produ | |
| 8. s. The outer wall and casing of a blast furnace, above the hearth. | |
| 9. s. A penstock for a water wheel. | |
| 10. s. (anatomy) The cerebral cortex. | |
| 11. s. (geology) The layer between the Earth's core and crust. | |
| 12. s. A fireplace shelf; alternative spelling of mantel | |
| 13. s. (heraldry) A mantling. | |
| 14. v. To cover or conceal (something); to cloak; to disguise. | |
| 15. v. (intransitive) To spread like a mantle (especially of blood in the face and cheeks when a person flushes). | |
