Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Mask

Mask (mȧsk), n. [F. masque, LL. masca, mascha, mascus; cf. Sp. & Pg. máscara, It. maschera; all fr. Ar. maskharat buffoon, fool, pleasantry, anything ridiculous or mirthful, fr. sakhira to ridicule, to laugh at. Cf. Masque, Masquerade.] 1. A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection; as, a dancer's mask; a fencer's mask; a ball player's mask.

2. That which disguises; a pretext or subterfuge.

3. A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, where all wear masks; a masquerade; hence, a revel; a frolic; a delusive show. Bacon.

This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask. Milton.

4. A dramatic performance, formerly in vogue, in which the actors wore masks and represented mythical or allegorical characters.

5. (Arch.) A grotesque head or face, used to adorn keystones and other prominent parts, to spout water in fountains, and the like; — called also mascaron.

6. (Fort.) (a) In a permanent fortification, a redoubt which protects the caponiere. (b) A screen for a battery.

7. (Zoöl.) The lower lip of the larva of a dragon fly, modified so as to form a prehensile organ.

Mask house, a house for masquerades. [Obs.]

Mask, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Masked; p. pr. & vb. n. Masking.] 1. To cover, as the face, by way of concealment or defense against injury; to conceal with a mask or visor.

They must all be masked and vizarded. Shak.

2. To disguise; to cover; to hide.

Masking the business from the common eye. Shak.

3. (Mil.) (a) To conceal; also, to intervene in the line of. (b) To cover or keep in check; as, to mask a body of troops or a fortress by a superior force, while some hostile evolution is being carried out.

Mask, v. i. 1. To take part as a masker in a masquerade. Cavendish.

2. To wear a mask; to be disguised in any way. Shak.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.