What does hide mean?
Hide chiefly means to conceal something or keep it from view, as when a person hides a feeling, a building hides behind trees, or evidence is hidden from investigators. The phrase hide in plain sight captures the word's familiar association with secrecy and concealment. In some contexts, hide also means to withdraw from view or to keep information from being revealed. Less commonly, especially in literature and historical writing, it means to beat or whip someone repeatedly. As a noun, hide can refer to an animal's skin, particularly one used for leather. Together, its senses connect the ideas of physical concealment, secrecy, and, in the noun, an outer covering. It is a useful basic word because it can describe both literal acts of hiding and figurative efforts to conceal intentions, emotions, or evidence.
To conceal something, keep something from view, or prevent something from being known.
"The mountains hid the village from the passing plane."
The phrase hide something from someone is common. Hide can also mean to withdraw from view or keep information secret.
To beat or whip someone repeatedly.
"The servants were accused of hiding the prisoner."
This sense is now literary or historical and is much less common than the sense of concealment.
The skin of an animal, especially when treated and used for leather.
"The chair was upholstered with a soft animal hide."
In this sense, hide is often used with an adjective such as raw, cured, or leather.
A place where a person or animal conceals itself; a hiding place.
"The fox ran toward its hide in the thick brush."
This sense is less common than the animal-skin sense and often has a literary or regional flavor.
The plural is used for multiple animal skins or hides, and less commonly for multiple places of concealment.
"The trader displayed several brightly dyed hides."
The word for an animal's preserved skin comes from the same Old English family as the verb for concealment: both relate to keeping something out of sight.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of hide
The verb descends from Old English hīdan, meaning to conceal or put out of sight. The noun meaning an animal's skin also comes from Old English hīd, related to the same Germanic root. In Middle English, the verb acquired the extended sense of beating or flogging, while the noun developed into its established use in leather and related trades.
Related word forms
How hide is actually used
The common modern sense is to conceal a person, object, or fact. The older sense meaning to beat or whip is chiefly literary or historical. As a noun, hide is also used for an animal's skin, particularly in the context of leather.
Easily confused with hide
Hide means to keep something concealed or out of sight, whereas seek means to look for or try to find it.
As a noun, hide can mean an animal's skin, especially when treated or used for leather, while skin is the general word for the outer covering of a person or animal.