DISGUISE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Disguise

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/dɪsgˈaɪz/ Listen

verb

Disguise v. t. (past & past part. disguised; pres. part. disguising)

1.

To change the guise or appearance of; especially, to conceal by an unusual dress, or one intended to mislead or deceive. "Bunyan was forced to disguise himself as a wagoner."

2.

To hide by a counterfeit appearance; to cloak by a false show; to mask; as, to disguise anger; to disguise one's sentiments, character, or intentions. "All God's angels come to us disguised."

3.

To affect or change by liquor; to intoxicate. "I have just left the right worshipful, and his myrmidons, about a sneaker of five gallons; the whole magistracy was pretty well disguised before I gave them the ship."

Synonyms: To conceal; hide; mask; dissemble; dissimulate; feign; pretend; secrete. See Conceal.

noun

Disguise n.

1.

A dress or exterior put on for purposes of concealment or of deception; as, persons doing unlawful acts in disguise are subject to heavy penalties. "There is no passion which steals into the heart more imperceptibly and covers itself under more disguises, than pride."

2.

Artificial language or manner assumed for deception; false appearance; counterfeit semblance or show. "That eye which glances through all disguises."

3.

Change of manner by drink; intoxication.

4.

A masque or masquerade. (Obs.) "Disguise was the old English word for a masque."

See images of 'Disguise'

Etymology of 'Disguise'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Disguise" Quotes from Famous Books

... and beautiful animal, entirely black, and sagacious to an astonishing degree. In speaking of his intelligence, my wife, who at heart was not a little tinctured with superstition, made frequent allusion to the ancient popular notion which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise. Not that she was ever serious upon this point, and I mention the matter at all for no better reason than that it happens just now to ...

— Lords of the Housetops - Thirteen Cat Tales • Various

... occasion for your services, but have now a mission to intrust to you. I have letters that I wish carried to Brussels and delivered to some of my friends there. You had best start at once in the disguise of a peasant boy. You must sew up your despatches in your jerkin, and remember that if they are found upon you a cruel death will surely be your fate. If you safely carry out your mission in Brussels return with the answers ...

— By Pike and Dyke: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic • G.A. Henty

... in poetic shape what he felt and understood from the actual experiences of life amid the scenes and circumstances in which he had been born and bred; his compeers, forming that class of society in which it has been thought the nature of man wears least disguise, were his first patrons. He required, therefore, less than Lady Nairn the exercise of that sympathy by which we place ourselves in the circumstances of others, and know how in these, others think and feel. His poetic effusions were homely and graphic, both in ...

— The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volumes I-VI. - The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century • Various

... Sunday evening he wrote to Hamlin that his step-son was in Devonshire, told him of the episode at the church, and informed the old man that the companion of his son, though a quiet and refined-appearing man enough, must be a prize-fighter in disguise. He further stated that Jack had told him that he and his friend had been working in the mines at Virginia City, Nevada, for three or four years. He added the strong suspicion that the complexion of the men indicated ...

— The Wedge of Gold • C. C. Goodwin

... chauffeur is either reckless, drunk, or sure to run into a telegraph pole, have a collision with another car, overturn his car at the corner, or run down the crossing pedestrian; every loitering person is a tramp, who is a burglar in disguise; every stranger is an enemy, or at least must be regarded with suspicion. Such worriers always seem to prefer to look on the dark side of the unknown rather than on the bright side. "Think no evil!" ...

— Quit Your Worrying! • George Wharton James

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