covers 1 of 2

present tense third-person singular of cover
1
as in substitutes
to serve as a replacement usually for a time only a friend covered for me as a hospital volunteer while my family went on vacation

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
3
as in shields
to place a protective layer over better cover your skin with sunblock if you don't want a sunburn, not to mention skin cancer

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

4
5
6
7
8

covers

2 of 2

noun

plural of cover
1
as in lids
a piece placed over an open container to hold in, protect, or conceal its contents where's the cover for the cookie jar?

Synonyms & Similar Words

2
3
4
5
as in canopies
a raised covering over something for decoration or protection all of the exhibits at the fair are under cover, so the weather won't be a factor

Synonyms & Similar Words

6

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of covers
Verb
The former ensures that the university covers the full tuition and fees for first-year, Pell-eligible students from Illinois. — Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 24 Sep. 2026 Another covers regulated detection devices that only flag possible hypertension. — Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 24 Sep. 2026 QuickBooks Free covers those basic bookkeeping needs while giving business owners a path to more advanced tools through QuickBooks Online as their needs evolve. — Carson Brunson, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026 The Second Judicial Circuit covers Leon, Gadsden, Liberty, Franklin, Wakulla and Jefferson counties in the Florida Panhandle. — News Service Of Florida, Sun Sentinel, 24 Sep. 2026 The study covers India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 24 Sep. 2026 This annual guarantee, sourced from the general fund and local property taxes, covers main operations. — Tarini Mehta, Sacbee.com, 24 Sep. 2026 Fine art photographer Oliver Wasow, who lives in Rhinebeck, New York, uses books in his research and has made books, as well as shooting book covers. — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 17 Sep. 2026 The classification covers incidents involving aircraft destruction, fatalities, or qualifying damage exceeding $2 million. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2026
Noun
The hotel's 18 rooms and five suites are all individually decorated with gloriously over-the-top touches in the form of antiques, sumptuous velvet duvet covers, and regal tones of red and gold that harken back to the property's royal history. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Sep. 2026 In particular, users are gravitating towards — and posting their own covers of — the bridge, which finds Williams belting insane high notes. — Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 30 Sep. 2026 On the editorial side, this includes the licenses for reproductions in books like exhibition catalogs, scholarly tomes, and even the covers of novels, as well as publications, for news coverage and criticism for exhibitions as well as general use. — Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 30 Sep. 2026 Art is King Another month of books, another month of book covers. — Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026 Emboldened trespassers are increasingly breaching the city’s complex sewer system, discreetly removing manhole covers to scavenge underground. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026 The 14-track collection, which included covers by Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, and the Velvet Underground, was partly in response to this past year’s violent immigration raids by ICE. — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 28 Sep. 2026 Booster landings receive the attention, but SpaceX also treats these large covers as hardware worth recovering, inspecting, and flying again. — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2026 Out of that reverence for the group’s music, Peña noted that all the Smiths covers will be performed only in English. — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for covers
Verb
  • This approach substitutes information for sensation, and reduces both human and supra-human experiences to the level of data.
    — Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 20 July 2026
  • So Tuchel, who always substitutes his wingers after roughly an hour, decided to withdraw Gordon and bring on an extra defender, Ezri Konsa.
    — Michael Cox, New York Times, 16 July 2026
Verb
  • Cook, tossing and adding more pasta cooking liquid a little at a time as needed, until sauce lightly coats pasta, about 2 minutes.
    — Carla Lalli Music, Bon Appetit Magazine, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Gradually whisk in chicken broth; cook, stirring constantly, until mixture coats the back of a spoon, 1 to 2 minutes.
    — Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 17 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The hacks could tee up a fight over liability reminiscent of the debate over Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which shields technology companies for material posted on their platforms.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026
  • This tough outer layer shields the underlying wood from pests, disease, and harsh sunlight and winds.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 22 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • There is precedent for this, though precedent might not be the right word given it concerns future events.
    — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Meta glasses become hearing aids The more unexpected announcement concerns Meta’s non-VR glasses.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 24 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The three-word message conceals the depth of a man worthy of dissection.
    — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
  • The snail’s diminutive size, however, conceals a massive secret.
    — Carrie Arnold Contributing, Quanta Magazine, 2 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • This fourth full-length from the London jazz quintet traverses Black diasporic sound traditions — grime, reggae, Afrobeat — mulling over the question of how music so joyous can be rooted in histories of pain.
    — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Reliever optimizes availability After taking his head out of the cold tub, Blubaugh traverses the bowels of Daikin Park.
    — Chandler Rome, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Business owners, technology leaders and risk teams need clarity about who owns the process, who determines acceptable risk, who monitors performance and who has the authority to intervene.
    — Jayasri Ranganathan, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Nvidia also announced Sentry, which monitors agents and runs on network chips, not CPUs or GPUs.
    — Kif Leswing, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • And in the full sentence that is a school, curricular interruptions are security threats to the accreditation evaluation that protects the bottom line.
    — Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Despite the camp’s reprieve, which protects those housed there from possible forcible removal to Afghanistan, residents have little hope of being allowed to enter the United States.
    — Matthew Lee, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Covers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/covers. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster