The Phrasal Verb 'Cover Up' Explained
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An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'cover up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native.
This is a post dedicated to the explanation of 'cover up', which is a nice little phrasal verb that has the idea of hiding or concealment at it's core. In this post, I will explain three different ways that you can use 'cover up' and how you can use it to talk about subjects ranging from wearing clothes to government scandals. For each application, I will give you lots of example sentences to ensure that at the end of the post you can use this phrasal verb in a confident and natural way. So. let's make a start and see what 'cover up' is all about....
QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'cover up' mean?The phrasal verb 'cover up' has three main meanings in English:
Keep reading to learn how to use each of these naturally in English. |
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THE BASICS
COVER UP: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 3 |
Past tense forms | Covered up / Covered up |
Separable? | Yes |
I am sure that you are all very familiar with the words 'cover' and 'up' already but let's first of all just remind ourselves what they mean and what these meanings can bring to the phrasal verb 'cover up'....
Cover - The verb 'to cover' is a fairly common regular verb in English whose main meaning is to physically put something over the top of something else in order to hide or protect it. Additionally, it can also be used in business English to mean 'to pay for, 'to insure' and 'to work for a colleague when they are not there'. Additionally, it can be used in the world of journalism to mean 'to report on a story'. One other very relevant meaning that it has when it is combined with the preposition 'for' is 'to lie for someone to prevent them from getting into trouble'.
The snow fell overnight and covered the ground.
We covered the ugly table with a colourful tablecloth.
When I go away for business, the company covers the cost of the flights and accommodation.
The insurance covers you for damage and theft.
The journalist was injured whilst covering a story about the war.
Molly covered up for Kate when she took a day off school.
Up - The prepositional particle 'up' is the most commonly found particle in phrasal verb constructions and can add a variety of different meanings to them. When applied literally it can add the idea of an upwards movement or increase (go up). It is more frequently used in phrasal verbs in a figurative sense though and here it can add the ideas of completion or totality (eat up), creation (set up), collection (gather up) and improvement (cheer up) among others.
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'cover up'....
MEANING 1: To completely cover something
CEFR Language Level | B1 - Intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To cover, to cover over |
Separable? | Yes |
The first of the meanings of the phrasal verb 'cover up' that we will look at in this post is very similar in meaning to the base verb 'to cover' and means 'to completely cover something'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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Like with the verb 'to cover', we can use this first application of 'cover up' to mean 'to place one thing over another so that it is hidden or protected' and there are many instances in which these two variations are interchangeable. However, there is a subtle difference between 'cover' and 'cover up' that you should know.
We use the verb 'to cover' primarily to say that something is placed over the top of something else so that it is partly or fully covered. In contrast, when we want to stress that the covered item is completely covered and no longer visible, we use 'cover up'.
For example, if you put some plastic wrap over a bowl of food to keep it fresh, you would say that you "covered it" and in most cases a native speaker would assume that the item was completely covered. If, for some reason, you wanted to hide the bowl of food so that people could not see it, we would use 'cover up' instead as it carries that extra idea of complete cover.
You will note in the example sentences below that this application often follows the structure cover up + something + with or cover something up + with as it is separable....
The children covered up the sandcastle with wet seaweed to protect it from the wind.
Overnight, fresh snow covered up the entire garden.
Poppy covered the furniture up with dust sheets before the decorators arrived.
Thick fog covered up the mountains, making them impossible to see.
The workers covered up the freshly planted seeds with soil.
Lionel covered the red wine stain on the carpet up with a rug.
Paul covered up the cage with a blanket to keep the bird calm.
Dark clouds gradually covered up the moon.
They covered up the old sign with a large advertising banner.
The rescue team covered up the damaged roof with a waterproof tarpaulin.
As I mentioned before, this application of 'cover up' is used particularly when we want to stop something being visible and therefore it also works for marks and patterns on surfaces like graffiti, tattoos and bruises.
The council covered up the graffiti with a fresh coat of paint the day after it appeared.
Peter wore a long-sleeved shirt to cover up the bruises on his arms.
Cassandra used make-up to cover up her tattoo before the job interview.
COVERING UP IN BOXING If you enjoy the sport boxing, then it is possible that you have heard the term 'covering up' to refer to a boxer's defensive technique in a match. If a boxer covers up, he or she protects their face by covering it with their gloves boxing gloves with their forearms over their chest. |
MEANING 2: To wear more clothes
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To dress |
Separable? | Yes |
The second meaning of the phrasal verb 'cover up' is a logical continuation of the first one and means 'to wear more clothes'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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For this second application of the phrasal verb 'cover up', the focus is on covering a person's body by putting on clothes. This may be in situations in which a person is completely naked, partially naked (in their underwear) or when a person is wearing clothes already but needs to cover the remaining areas of their body.
Typical reasons why a person would need to 'cover up' are for religious or modesty purposes and to protect themselves from something that could be harmful to them, sunshine or other forms of weather.
On a grammatical note, when we use it in this way to talk about covering up your entire body this usage does not take a direct object and is not separable. We can use it also to describe covering a specific body part e.g. shoulders or legs and when used this way, it is separable and the covered up body part can go between 'cover' and 'up' or after them.
As with the previous application, we use 'cover up' when we want to emphasise that the specific body part is no longer visible.
The tourist covered up her shoulders before entering the church.
You should cover up your legs if you're walking through long grass.
Mike covered up his arms to avoid getting sunburnt.
The model was asked to cover up her chest for the advertisement.
Lynsey wore a shawl to cover up her shoulders.
Patricia covered up her shoulders with a cardigan.
Alex covered up his legs with a blanket.
Jemma covered up her arms with a long-sleeved top.
MEANING 3: To hide the truth
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To hide, to conceal |
Separable? | Yes |
For our third and final usage of the phrasal verb 'cover up', we are again ending on a negative meaning (I have a habit of doing this) as this one means 'to hide the truth'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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To give you more context on this application, we use it when we want to hide information or details about something that could get us into trouble, cause us problems or have a negative effect on our life or career. This is the reason why I stated that it is negative as we don't really use it for anything positive.
We often use it this way in reference to politics, business and organisations who want to maintain a good reputation with the public and therefore choose to hide or cover up any negative press or bad news about them that could jeopardise this.
It can equally be used in more personal situations, for example if someone tells a lie to cover up something bad that they have done.
The general idea of this links back to the other two applications of 'cover up' as at its core is the idea of wanting something to be hidden so that others do not see it or know about it.
The company tried to cover up the accident instead of reporting it.
You can't cover the truth up forever; people will find out one day!
Margaret admitted her mistake rather than trying to cover it up.
The scandal became even worse when people realised that officials had tried to cover it up.
The government minister was accused of covering up evidence that could have damaged the government's reputation.
Journalists claimed that several senior politicians had worked together to cover up the affair.
The inquiry found no evidence of an attempt to cover up the corruption.
Ben lied to cover up the fact that he had forgotten his sister's birthday.
You should also be aware of a common extension of this phrasal verb 'application', which is 'to cover up for someone'. If you cover up for someone, you tell a lie or do something to hide something wrong that another person has done as you want to protect them.
Karina lied to cover up for her friend after the accident.
The manager was accused of covering up for an employee who had broken the rules.
Jackie refused to cover up for her colleague's mistakes.
BONUS: The noun 'cover-up'
Let's finish the post by looking at a common noun that we get from this third and final phrasal verb usage: 'cover-up'. A 'cover-up' is a word that we can use to describe when someone hides or conceals the truth about something in order to avoid being in trouble or negative press. It tends to be used more to talk about politics, big businesses and famous organisations.
Journalists uncovered a cover-up involving public funds.
Opposition parties accused the minister of being involved in a cover-up.
The executives of the business were charged for their role in the cover-up.
We have now reached the end of this post and I hope that you have found it useful and that it has helped you to understand how to use the phrasal verb 'cover up' more confidently and naturally.
Feel free to leave any comments, feedback or your own sentences using 'cover up' in the section below. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media.
Want to understand native speakers more easily and use phrasal verbs more naturally? If yes, check out my downloadable phrasal verb workbooks, which include clear explanations, common learner mistakes, exercises, speaking practice and answer keys to help you master the phrasal verbs that native speakers use every day. Browse the workbooks here. |
Thanks so much for reading and see you next time! James 😊
THE END
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