Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The method or result of concealing personnel or equipment from an enemy by making them appear to be part of the natural surroundings.
- n. Concealment by disguise or protective coloring.
- n. Fabric or a garment dyed in splotches of green, brown, tan, and black so as to make the wearer indistinguishable from the surrounding environment.
- v. To conceal by the use of disguise or by protective coloring or garments that blend in with the surrounding environment.
- v. To conceal, usually through misrepresentation or other artifice: camouflaged their hatred with professions of friendship. See Synonyms at disguise.
- v. To use protective coloring or garments for concealment.
Wiktionary
- n. A disguise or covering up.
- n. The act of disguising.
- n. textiles A pattern on clothing consisting of irregularly shaped patches that are either greenish/brownish, brownish/whitish, or bluish/whitish, as used by ground combat forces.
- n. biology Resemblance of an organism to its surroundings for avoiding detection
- n. Clothes made from camouflage fabric, for concealment in combat or hunting.
- v. To hide or disguise something by covering it up or changing the way it looks.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the act of concealing the identity of something by modifying its appearance
- n. fabric dyed with splotches of green and brown and black and tan; intended to make the wearer of a garment made of this fabric hard to distinguish from the background
- n. device or stratagem for concealment or deceit
- v. disguise by camouflaging; exploit the natural surroundings to disguise something
- n. an outward semblance that misrepresents the true nature of something
Etymologies
- Borrowing from French camouflage, from camoufler ("to veil, disguise"), alteration (due to camouflet "smoke blown in one's face") of Italian camuffare ("to muffle the head"), from ca- (from Italian capo "head") + muffare ("to muffle"), from Medieval Latin muffula, muffla ("muff"), from Frankish *molfell (“soft garment made of hide”) from *mol (“softened, forworn”) (akin to Old High German molawēn "to soften", Middle High German molwic "soft") + *fell (“hide, skin”), from Proto-Germanic *fellan (“skin, film, fleece”), from Proto-Indo-European *pel(e)(w)-, *plē(w)- (“skin, hide”). Akin to Old High German fel ("fell, skin, hide"), Old English fell ("fell, skin, hide"). Alternate etymology traces the Italian and Medieval Latin words to Middle High German mouwe, mōwe ("sleeve") (German Muff "muff", Dutch mouw "sleeve") from Proto-Germanic *mawwō (“sleeve”) + fell "skin". More at mulch, fell. (Wiktionary)
- French, from camoufler, to disguise, alteration (influenced by camouflet, snub, smoke blown in one's face) of Italian camuffare. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“This girl doesn't even know what the word camouflage means, but whatever, who cares.”
“Why, they are what you call my camouflage, and a very good one too. ”
“What kind of camouflage is that, which exists, not to make one invisible, but ever more distinct?”
“Long before the French word "camouflage" was brought into general use by a titanic war the art of concealment and illusion was practiced universally by the natives of the North American wilderness.”
“Dressed like Ted Nugent in camouflage, long hair and a scruffy beard, he stages a mixed-martial arts contest, which was shot last summer in Arkansas.”
“Would that be something like flak jackets covered in camouflage pattern Rhinestones?”
“Imagine if you will, a woman in camouflage maternity uniform with combat boots that would do Goofy proud ...”
“Hunters in camouflage gear are still common sights at the Kuujjuaq airport during Nunavik's sports caribou hunting season, which starts in mid-August and wraps up at the end of September.”
“We are getting weaker and weaker every day," lamented Col. Ahmed Mohammed, a burly commander dressed in camouflage fatigues.”
The Washington Post: Somali militants grow more brazen in attack
“The intruders, all dressed in camouflage, and one of them with his face painted black, fatally shot Raul Flores, 29, wounded Flores 'wife, and killed the couple's 9-year-old daughter, Brisenia.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘camouflage’.
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SEDE - technology+material+support
nuclear fuel, nuclear arsenal, nuclear equipment, AWACS, anti-missile shield, battlefield opera..., communication sys..., community communi..., control system, functionality log..., Missile Technolog..., NBC Warning and R... and 302 more...
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Mandles, Candles for Men
candles with a "manly" scent
a1 steak sauce, baseball glove, grillin' out, campfire, pigskin, bowling alley, musty locker room, chuck norris sweat, urinal deodorizer, bait shop, wet dog, hardware store and 210 more...
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words 1
Traduce, Ramify, precipitous, rapture, adumbrate, knell, smolder, vagary, choleric, sibylline, hypocritical, jejune and 135 more...
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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The -ages of Man(-age)
Trivet also has this list, which you should go see. And then I found this list, and this list...
manage, salvage, selvadge, savage, voyage, umbrage, entourage, homage, carriage, marriage, language, potage and 123 more...
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SEDE - military operations
hit, Iran-Iraq War, prevention, increase of readi..., replacement of wa..., rise of readiness, stabilisation, build up, basic training, defence procurement, force modernisation, full mobilisation and 387 more...
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awesome words
Words that mean cool things
helmer, gris, vamp, skuld, sapsuckers, couple, mushroom-headed, neologist, grayish-pink, slipstream, toad, bada-bing and 45 more...
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cgrimm's list
Words I like or find interesting
boondoggle, kerfuffel, schadenfreude, possierlich, vendor, skidaddle, apfelsine, fodder, scapegrace, die tarnung, tarnkappe, shampoo and 16 more...
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Hiding in plain sight
anticryptic, camouflage, chameleon, xenomorphic, obfusc, stegnographic, stealth, dissemble, dissimulate, mask, masquerade, screen and 27 more...
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Kalli's Words
redundant, munchkin, escapade, natch, boom, fap, geek, nocturnal, pedantic, tactile, conversant, oxymoron and 188 more...
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kringlan's Words
fecund, riposte, nebbish, nonpareil, deign, eschew, imbroglio, spelunking, fop, foofaraw, tundra, talon and 128 more...
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What Do You Mean $
ahh these hurt.....
hermit, prone, maxim, guise, solvenly, lurid, lax, amiable, irate, cloister, mediate, nettle and 100 more...
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dyy's Words
ambivalence, irony, double-edged sword, paradox, struggle, plunge, buoy, pigeon-hole, ultimately, status quo, fuel, undermine and 230 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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Addenda to the 1923 Printing of Webst...
Many of these words first came into common usage during World War I, and reflect not only the technological and scientific leaps of the early part of the 20th century, but the new experience of glo...
abri, ace, acidosis, airdrome, air fleet, airplane, air raid, airworthy, altimeter, anaphylaxis, anociassociation, anti-aircraft and 292 more...
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Links Spelling Bee 2012
230 Words
gargalesthesia, bondieuserie, aguinaldo, alcazar, allosaurus, ambidexterity, ameliorate, anachronism, androcentric, ankylosaurus, anthropology, apartheid and 123 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for camouflage.
bilby Some good animal examples, and not chameleons! Jan 22, 2013
jmjarmstrong JM can’t find his camouflage gear. Jul 3, 2011
BrainyBabe Colonel Gathersoles, O.B.E., was a warrior with his country's colours blazoned all over his face. He had red veins down his nose, a white moustache, and mild blue eyes. The mildness was nature's camouflage. -- ''Yashima, or, The Gorgeous West'' by R T Sherwood, 1931. Dec 23, 2008