SHROUD, n.

1. A shelter; a cover; that which covers, conceals or protects.

Swaddled, as new born, in sable shrouds. Sandys.

2. The dress of the dead; a winding sheet.

3. Shroud or shrouds of a ship, a range of large ropes extending from the head of a mast to the right and left sides of the ship, to support the mast; as the main shrouds; fore shrouds; mizen shrouds. There are also futtock shrouds, bowsprit shrouds, &c.

4. A branch of a tree. [Not proper.]

SHROUD, v.t.

1. To cover; to shelter from danger or annoyance.

Under your beams I will me safely shroud. Spenser.

One of these trees with all its young ones, may shroud four hundred horsemen. Raleigh.

2. To dress for the grave; to cover; as a dead body.

The ancient Egyptian mummies were shrouded in several folds of linen besmeared with gums. Bacon.

3. To cover; to conceal to hide; as, to be shrouded in darkness.

-Some tempest rise,

And blow out all the stars that light the skies,

To shroud my name. Dryden.

4. To defend; to protect by hiding.

So Venus from prevailing Greeks did shroud

The hope of Rome, and saved him in a cloud. Waller.

5. To overwhelm; as, to be shrouded in despair.

6. To lop the branches of a tree. [Unusual or improper.]

SHROUD, v.i. To take shelter or harbor.

If your stray attendants be yet lodg'd

Or shroud within these limits- Milton.

1. A shelter; a cover; that which covers, conceals or protects. Swaddled, as new born, in sable shrouds. – Sandys.
2. The dress of the dead; a winding sheet. – Young.
3. Shroud or shrouds of a ship, a range of large ropes extending from the head of a mast to the right and left sides of the ship, to support the mast; as, the main shrouds; fore shrouds; mizzen shrouds. There are also futtock shrouds, bowsprit shrouds, &c. – Mar. Dict.
4. A branch of a tree. [Not proper.] – Warton.

To take shelter or harbor. If your stray attendants be yet lodg'd / Or shroud within these limits. – Milton.

1. To cover; to shelter from danger or annoyance. Under your beams I will me safely shroud. – Spenser. One of these trees with all its young ones, may shroud four hundred horsemen. – Raleigh.
2. To dress for the grave; to cover; as a dead body. The ancient Egyptian mummies were shrouded in several folds of linen besmeared with gums. – Bacon.
3. To cover; to conceal; to hide; as, to be shrouded in darkness. Some tempest rise, / And blow out all the stars that light the skies, / To shroud my shame. – Dryden.
4. To defend; to protect by hiding. So Venus from prevailing Greeks did shroud / The hope of Rome, and sav'd him in a cloud. – Waller.
5. To overwhelm; as, to be shrouded in despair.
6. To lop the branches of a tree. [Unusual or improper.] – Chambers.

1. That which clothes, covers, conceals, or protects; a garment.
   
   
   Piers Plowman.

   Swaddled, as new born, in sable shrouds. Sandys.

2. To cover with a shroud; especially, to inclose in a winding sheet; to dress for the grave.
   
   

   The ancient Egyptian mummies were shrouded in a number of folds of linen besmeared with gums. Bacon.

3. To take shelter or harbor.
   
   
   [Obs.]

   If your stray attendance be yet lodged,
   Or shroud within these limits. Milton.

4. To lop. See Shrood.
   
   
   [Prov. Eng.]
5. Especially, the dress for the dead; a winding sheet.
   
   
   "A dead man in his shroud." Shak.
6. To cover, as with a shroud; to protect completely; to cover so as to conceal; to hide; to veil.
   
   

   One of these trees, with all his young ones, may shroud four hundred horsemen. Sir W. Raleigh.

   Some tempest rise,
   And blow out all the stars that light the skies,
   To shroud my shame. Dryden.

7. That which covers or shelters like a shroud.
   
   

   Jura answers through her misty shroud. Byron.

8. A covered place used as a retreat or shelter, as a cave or den; also, a vault or crypt.
   
   
   [Obs.]

   The shroud to which he won
   His fair-eyed oxen. Chapman.

   A vault, or shroud, as under a church. Withals.

9. The branching top of a tree; foliage.
   
   
   [R.]

   The Assyrian wad a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and with a shadowing shroad. Ezek. xxxi. 3.

10. A set of ropes serving as stays to support the masts. The lower shrouds are secured to the sides of vessels by heavy iron bolts and are passed around the head of the lower masts.
11. One of the two annular plates at the periphery of a water wheel, which form the sides of the buckets; a shroud plate.
    
    

    Bowsprit shrouds (Naut.), ropes extending from the head of the bowsprit to the sides of the vessel. -- Futtock shrouds (Naut.), iron rods connecting the topmast rigging with the lower rigging, passing over the edge of the top. -- Shroud plate. (a) (Naut.) An iron plate extending from the dead-eyes to the ship's side. Ham. Nav. Encyc. (b) (Mach.) A shroud. See def. 7, above.