v. 1
To place something over or upon, as to conceal or protect.
He covered the baby with a blanket.
v. 2
To be over or upon, as to conceal or protect.
The blanket covered the baby.
n. 1
A lid.
n. 2
Area or situation which screens a person or thing from view.
The soldiers took cover behind a ruined building.

Related words

Word family: coverglass cover-shame coversheet coverage coverall
Phrases: cover-up diaper cover nappy cover back cover bed cover cloud cover cover girl cover story

Forms

Plural: covers → screens, protections, coverts, concealments…
Past participle: covered
e.g. covered → shrouded, hided, concealed, protected…

Cover, Shelter, Protect or Shelters?

To shelter is to cover so as to protect from injury or annoyance; as, the roof shelters from the storm; woods shelter from the heat.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

protect We should tell children how to protect themselves.
hide It became so that I had to hide from the landlord.
conceal Sami wanted to conceal the crime he had committed.
shroud Every morning, autumn mists shroud the mountains.
include I will include the author's and publisher's names.
encompass Writing cannot express all words, words cannot encompass all ideas.

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

3 letters: top¹, arm¹, lid¹
4 letters: back¹, case¹, deal¹, hole¹, hide¹, coat¹, mask¹, wrap¹, cope¹, bury², veil¹
5 letters: track¹, cross¹, treat¹, serve¹, guard¹, blind¹, plate¹, shade¹, cloak¹, quilt¹
6 letters: report², spread¹, handle², screen¹, defend², shadow², shield¹, extend², mantle², covert², canopy³, insure², shroud¹, awning²
7 letters: include², protect², address², defense², contain², defence², involve², shelter², embrace², binding², blanket², conceal², overlay³, varnish²
8 letters: disguise², comprise², coverlet
9 letters: encompass³
10 letters: protection³, compensate³, comprehend³, underwrite³
11 letters: concealment³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (bury² = 2 syllables).