becloud, v.
(bɪˈklaʊd)
Also 7 -clowd.
[f. be- 6 + cloud.]
1. trans. To cover or obscure with clouds (of vapour, smoke, etc.); to make misty or murky.
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas (1608) 359 With a sable cloud Of horned locusts doth the sun becloud. 1636 R. Griffin in Ann. Dubrensia (1877) 52 These..beclowd the azure skies. 1854 Woodward Mollusca (1856) 15 The cuttle-fish escapes by..beclouding the water with an inky discharge. |
2. fig. To make obscure; to darken, to hide.
| 1619 Donne Serm. Wks. 1839 VI. 20 Howsoever the Understanding be Beclouded. 1782 Priestley Nat. & Rev. Relig. II. 161 Beclouding and puzzling the business. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. II. xix. 7 These fine words with which we fumigate and becloud unpleasant facts. |