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   mantle

   /ˈmantl/

   noun

   • 1. a loose sleeveless cloak or shawl, worn especially by women: "she was wrapped tightly in her mantle" Similar cloakcapeshawlwrapstolerare:pelissepelerineponchoserapearchaic:mantlet
   • ▪ a covering of a specified sort: "the houses were covered with a thick mantle of snow" Similar coveringlayerblanketsheetveilcurtaincanopycovercloakpallshroudscreenmaskcloudoverlayenvelope
   • ▪ a bird's back, scapulars, and wing coverts, especially when of a distinctive colour: "many gulls are all white except for dark grey mantle and wings"
   • ▪ (in molluscs, cirripedes, and brachiopods) a fold of skin enclosing the viscera and secreting the shell.
   • 2. an important role or responsibility that passes from one person to another: "the second son has now assumed his father's mantle" Similar roleburdenonusdutyresponsibilityfunctionpositioncapacitytaskjob
   • 3. a fragile mesh cover fixed round a gas jet, kerosene wick, etc., to give an incandescent light when heated.
   • 4. the region of the earth's interior between the crust and the core, believed to consist of hot, dense silicate rocks (mainly peridotite): "magmas erupted at mid-ocean ridges are derived from the upper mantle"
   • ▪ the part of another planetary body corresponding to the earth's mantle: "the lunar mantle"

   verb

   • 1. cloak or envelop: literary "heavy mists mantled the forested slopes"
   • ▪ (of blood) suffuse (the face): archaic "a warm pink mounted to the girl's cheeks and mantled her brow"
   • ▪ (of the face) glow with a blush: archaic "her rich face mantling with emotion"
   • ▪ (of a liquid) become covered with a head or froth: archaic "the poison mantled in the bowl"
   • 2. (of a bird of prey on the ground or on a perch) spread the wings and tail so as to cover captured prey: "the female Goshawk is feeding while mantling with spread wings over her prey"

   Word Origin Old Englishmentel, from Latin mantellum ‘cloak’; reinforced in Middle English by Old French mantel.

   Scrabble Points: 8

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