as in veil
something that covers or conceals like a piece of cloth
under the coverture of a raging snowstorm, the rebels undertook their surprise attack on the fortress
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Recent Examples of coverture
For centuries, the doctrine of coverture rendered married women the property of their husbands with no legal rights of their own.
—
Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025
While Northern women were trapped in coverture, Southern states were bypassing coverture specifically for the purpose of giving married women rights to own enslaved people.
—Trevon Logan, The Conversation, 10 June 2024
Heavenly Mother, according to our own doctrine, can’t be some wilting Victorian flower shrinking under the protective coverture of a strong man.
—The Salt Lake Tribune, 7 May 2022
The famous legal scholar William Blackstone had interpreted coverture rather strictly in the 1760s, and the American Revolution did nothing to change that.
—Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2022
That started to change by about the 18th century, when coverture laws—which counted wives as legal property of their husbands—grew more entrenched in Britain, and evolved to effectively forbid women from owning land at all.
—Michael Waters, The Atlantic, 27 Oct. 2021
In the nascent American Republic, where some humans could vote and most others were in coverture to their voting husbands or were the property of those men, the notion of majority representation was corrupted a priori.
—Shannon Pufahl, The New York Review of Books, 21 Apr. 2020
Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025
While Northern women were trapped in coverture, Southern states were bypassing coverture specifically for the purpose of giving married women rights to own enslaved people.
—Trevon Logan, The Conversation, 10 June 2024
Heavenly Mother, according to our own doctrine, can’t be some wilting Victorian flower shrinking under the protective coverture of a strong man.
—The Salt Lake Tribune, 7 May 2022
The famous legal scholar William Blackstone had interpreted coverture rather strictly in the 1760s, and the American Revolution did nothing to change that.
—Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2022
That started to change by about the 18th century, when coverture laws—which counted wives as legal property of their husbands—grew more entrenched in Britain, and evolved to effectively forbid women from owning land at all.
—Michael Waters, The Atlantic, 27 Oct. 2021
In the nascent American Republic, where some humans could vote and most others were in coverture to their voting husbands or were the property of those men, the notion of majority representation was corrupted a priori.
—Shannon Pufahl, The New York Review of Books, 21 Apr. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coverture
Noun
-
The story of the Shibuya Incident saw a mysterious veil trap countless citizens inside the busy Shibuya area.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Even the imperfections in the costume — the slightly off-shoulder veil, the asymmetry — hint at the cracks in her composure.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The Goldwell Open Air Museum, next to the skeletal buildings of Rhyolite Ghost Town, is a large-scale sculpture installation created by a group of Belgian artists that’s complete with ghostly figures wearing white cloaks.—
Graham Averill,
Outside,
28 Oct. 2025
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The 42-seat screening room, originally a cloak room, is officially a part of the private residence of the First Family, but its history from Eisenhower to Reagan was recorded by its longtime projectionist, Paul Fischer.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Moments later, Red Cross officials arrive on the scene as the shroud containing the body is pulled from the dirt.—
Oren Liebermann,
CNN Money,
28 Oct. 2025
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The 54 unidentified bodies were laid carefully in a long line of white shrouds as Palestinians gathered around the grave site.—
Chantal Da Silva,
NBC news,
25 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Coverture.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coverture. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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