mask UK /mɑːsk/US /mæsk/noun 18verb 18forms 3phrases 2 noun18 •a cover that people wear on the face or part of it, to protect it or to hide who they are •That which disguises; a pretext or subterfuge.Grouchy and wary and tender, he’s a sozzled hedonist seemingly out for himself—though his party-animal facade is just a mask for his bottomless generosity. — 2021 •(literary) Appearance, likeness.Come then, pure hands, and bear the head That sleeps or wears the mask of sleep, And come, whatever loves to weep, And hear the ritual of the dead. — 1850 •A flat covering used to block off an unwanted portion of a scene or image. •A pattern of bits used in bitwise operations; bitmask. •A two-color (black and white) bitmap generated from an image, used to create transparency in the image. •A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, where all wear masks; a masquerade.This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask. — 1667 •The black fur around a racoon's eyes. •A person wearing a mask.the mask that has the arm of the Indian queen — 1880 •A grotesque head or face, used to adorn keystones and other prominent parts, to spout water in fountains, and the like. •In a permanent fortification, a redoubt which protects the caponiere. •A screen for a battery. •The head of a fox, shown face-on and cut off immediately behind the ears. •The lower lip of the larva of a dragonfly, modified so as to form a prehensile organ. •Mesh. •(dialect, UK) The mesh of a net; a net; net-bag. •(dialect, UK) Mash. •(no longer used) A dramatic performance in which the actors wore masks and represented mythical or allegorical characters. verb18 •To cover (the face or something else), in order to conceal the identity or protect against injury; to cover with a mask or visor.They must all be masked and vizarded — 1597 •To conceal from view or knowledge; to cover; to hide. •To conceal; also, to intervene in the line of. •To take part as a masker in a masquerade.Come Pentecost as quickly as it will, Some five and twenty years, and then we mask’d. — 1591 •To put on a mask; to wear a mask. •To disguise as something else. •To conceal or disguise one's neurodivergence, especially autism; to learn, practice, and perform certain behaviors and suppress others in order to appear more neurotypical.Masking can leave a person with less energy to handle other aspects of their day, from performing basic housework to processing thoughts and feelings. — 2020 •To cover or shield something, or a portion of something, so as to prevent reproduction or to safeguard the surface from the colors used when working with an air brush or painting. •To set or unset (certain bits, or binary digits, within a value) by means of a bitmask.That is, the lower nibble (the 4 bits 1010 = A) has been masked to zero. This is because ANDing anything with a zero produces a zero, while ANDing any bit with a 1 leaves the bit unchanged[…] — 1993 •To disable (an interrupt, etc.) by setting or unsetting the associated bit.Some hardware interrupts can be masked, or disabled; that is, the CPU is told to ignore them. — 1998 •To cover or keep in check.to mask a body of troops or a fortess by a superior force, while some hostile evolution is being carried out •(dialect, UK) To mash. •(dialect, UK) (brewing) To mix malt with hot water to yield wort. •(dialect, Scotland) To be infused or steeped. •(dialect, UK) To prepare tea in a teapot; alternative to brew. •(dialect, UK) To bewilder; confuse. •(Scotland, rare) To prepare (to storm).I saw the storm was masking fast, That soon wad fa' on me;[…] — 1839 •(no longer used) To disguise oneself, to be disguised in any way.Ioue sometime masked in a shepheards weede, And by those steps that he hath scal’d the heauens, May we become immortall like the Gods. — 1587 formsmasked · masking · masks Phrases with mask mask upTo put on a mask, especially a safety mask or a medical face mask. take the mask offTo drop a facade and reveal one's true nature.
