cove

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
9
Words With Friends
11
Letters
4
Pronunciation
/kəʊv/
See all 6 pronunciations
/kəʊv/ · /koʊv/ · /kəʉv/ · /kɐʉv/ · /kov/ · /koːv/

Definition of cove

26 senses · 3 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. (uncommon)A hollow in a rock; a cave or cavern.
See all 26 definitions

noun

  1. (uncommon)A hollow in a rock; a cave or cavern.
  2. A concave vault or archway, especially the arch of a ceiling.
  3. A small coastal inlet, especially one having high cliffs protecting vessels from prevailing winds; bight.
    “secret coves and noukes”
    “There are several excellent snorkelling spots in the shallow coves around Chimei, and one-day tours (NT$1100 to NT$1300, including transport and food) can be arranged beforehand by your hotel or home-stay.”
  4. (US)A strip of prairie extending into woodland.
  5. (Cumbria)A recess or sheltered area on the slopes of a mountain.
  6. The wooden roof of the stern gallery of an old sailing warship.
  7. A thin line, sometimes gilded, along a yacht's strake below deck level.
  8. (Appalachia)A valley between two ridges, especially one that, opening to the south and east, is protected by ridges on the north and west from common winter storm tracks.
    “They were, despite their ignorance, unavoidably prosperous since their farm occupied a wide piece of cove bottom with dirt so black and rich it would raise sweet potatoes as long as your arm[.]”
  9. (British, Lewis, dated, informal)A fellow; a man.
    “Don’t call Major Pendennis an old cove, if you’ll ’ave the goodness, Lightfoot, and don’t call me an old cove, nether. Such words ain’t used in society; and we have lived in the fust society, both at ’ome and foring.”
    “At one point, a friendly-looking sort of cove with silver hair and a grandfatherly kind of face beamed at him […]”
  10. (Australia, Polari)A friend; a mate.

verb

  1. To arch over; to build in a hollow concave form; to make in the form of a cove.
    “The mosques and other buildings of the Arabians are rounded into domes and coved roofs.”
  2. (ambitransitive, obsolete)Of a bird or other animal: to brood, cover, incubate, or sit over (eggs).
    “Moreover, the provident care of the tortoiſe in the generation, nouriſhment and preſervation of [h]er yooung, is vvoonderfull: for out ſhe goeth of the ſea, and laieth her egges or caſteth her ſpavvne upon the banke ſide; but being not able to cove or ſit upon them, nor to remaine herſelfe upon the land out of the ſea any long time, ſhe beſtovveth them in the gravell, and aftervvards covereth them vvith the lighteſt and fineſt ſand ſhe can get: […]”

name

  1. (countable, uncountable)A number of places in the United States:
  2. (countable, uncountable)A number of places in the United States:
  3. (countable, uncountable)A number of places in the United States:
  4. (countable, uncountable)A number of places in the United States:
  5. (countable, uncountable)A number of places in the United States:
  6. (countable, uncountable)A number of places in the United States:
  7. (countable, uncountable)A small village in Tiverton parish, Mid Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SS9519).
  8. (countable, uncountable)A suburb of Farnborough, Hampshire, England (OS grid ref SU8556).
  9. (countable, uncountable)Three villages in Scotland:
  10. (countable, uncountable)Three villages in Scotland:
  11. (countable, uncountable)Three villages in Scotland:
  12. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable)Three villages in Scotland:
  13. (countable, uncountable)A habitational surname from Old English.
  14. (Australia)The official active supporters' group of Sydney FC (an Australian soccer club based in Sydney).

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English cove, from Old English cofa (“chamber; den”), from Proto-West Germanic *kobō, from Proto-Germanic *kubô. Cognate with Dutch koof (“cove”), German Low German Koov (“small room”), German Koben…

See full etymology

From Middle English cove, from Old English cofa (“chamber; den”), from Proto-West Germanic *kobō, from Proto-Germanic *kubô. Cognate with Dutch koof (“cove”), German Low German Koov (“small room”), German Koben (“nook, shed”), Icelandic kofi (“hut, shack”). This word has probably survived as long as it has due to its coincidental phonetic resemblance to the unrelated word English cave. Also unrelated to Spanish cueva, which itself is a cognate of cave.

Anagrams of cove

1 play · some not in Scrabble

Words you can make from cove

3 playable · top: VOE (6 pts)

Best play voe 6 points

3-letter words

1 word

2-letter words

1 word

Hooks

6 extensions · 6 back

A single letter you can add to cove to make another valid word.

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