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Synonyms

cove

1 American  
[kohv] / koʊv /

noun

  1. a small indentation or recess in the shoreline of a sea, lake, or river.

  2. a sheltered nook.

  3. a hollow or recess in a mountain; cave; cavern.

  4. a narrow pass between woods or hills.

  5. a sheltered area between woods or hills.

  6. Architecture.

    1. a concave surface or molding.

    2. a concave surface forming part of a ceiling at its edge so as to eliminate the usual interior angle between the wall and ceiling.

verb (used with or without object)

coved, coving

  1. to make or become a cove.

cove 2 American  
[kohv] / koʊv /

noun

  1. British Slang. a person; fellow.

  2. Australian Slang. a manager, especially of a sheep station.

cove 1 British  
/ kəʊv /

noun

  1. a small bay or inlet, usually between rocky headlands

  2. a narrow cavern formed in the sides of cliffs, mountains, etc, usually by erosion

  3. a sheltered place

  4. Also called: coving.  architect a concave curved surface between the wall and ceiling of a room

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to form an architectural cove in

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
cove 2 British  
/ kəʊv /

noun

  1. old-fashioned a fellow; chap

  2. history an overseer of convict labourers

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of cove1

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English cofa “cave, den, closet”; cognate with Old Norse kofi “hut,” Greek gýpē “cave”

Origin of cove2

First recorded in 1560–70; of uncertain origin; perhaps from Romani kova “creature, thing, person”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But south of the tunnel, Highway 1 still parallels a stretch of towering cliffs overlooking a sheltered cove.

From Los Angeles Times

There was still lots of room in the cove, even with twenty floating coconuts.

From Literature

The three men followed the shoreline, past a cove where an old fishing pier jutted into the water.

From Literature

The ceiling cove, once green, has been returned to its original white color.

From The Wall Street Journal

She had flown over a portion of the forest to a cliff, which led down to a sandy cove where boats often moored.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.