From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcover up phrasal verb1 cover something ↔ upCOVER to put something over something else so that it cannot be seen Her legs were so swollen she had to cover them up.2 cover something ↔ upHIDE/NOT SHOW to prevent people from discovering mistakes or unpleasant facts → whitewash The affair was covered up and never reached the papers. Mum’s worried, but she covers it up by joking. → cover-up3 cover up for somebodySECRET to protect someone by hiding unpleasant facts about them They covered up for Kirk by refusing to answer any questions.4 HIDE/NOT SHOWto put clothes, blankets etc over yourself in order to protect or hide your body, or to keep yourself warm Cover up, or stay out of the sun.cover yourself up Hastily, she covered herself up with the towel. → cover→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
cover up• Kate has made some big mistakes, and she won't be able to cover them up for long.• Lewis asked his wife to lie in an attempt to cover up the murder.cover up for somebody• Heaven only knows what else you've done that Paige has covered up for.• By lying and covering up for her husband, the wife provides negative reinforcement for his violence.• The persistent tendency to cover up for our lack of effectiveness by using vague language must be strongly resisted.• High ranking military men were covering up for the murderers.• And start covering up for them.cover yourself up• Hastily, she covered herself up.• My landlady had stopped screaming by now because she'd managed to cover herself up.• I've been covering myself up and praying James wouldn't notice.• I begged them to cover themselves up, but they wouldn't.cover-upˈcover-up noun [countable] HIDE/NOT SHOWan attempt to prevent the public from discovering the truth about something → whitewash He accused the government of a cover-up. → cover upExamples from the Corpus
cover-up• Some people suspect that government officials were involved in a cover-up of the incident.• Guilt is not a true emotion; it is a cover-up for other feelings which we feel we shouldn't have.• People would suspect a cover-up if public hearings aren't held.• Soon there was a cover-up of the cover-up, because senior officers by then knew too much.• There is nothing less than a cultural cover-up about depression in men.• The techniques of cover-up are old and familiar.• The cover-up lasts to this day, but its genesis is now unravelling.• The Watergate cover-up eventually led to Nixon's resignation. 