1. [n]  a loose outer garment
2. [n]  anything that covers or conceals
3. [v]  hide under a false appearance

1. \Cloak\ (?; 110), n. [Of. cloque cloak (from the bell-like
   shape), bell, F. cloche bell; perh. of Celtic origin and the
   same word as E. clock. See 1st {Clock}.]
   1. A loose outer garment, extending from the neck downwards,
      and commonly without sleeves. It is longer than a cape,
      and is worn both by men and by women.
   
   2. That which conceals; a disguise or pretext; an excuse; a
      fair pretense; a mask; a cover.
   
            No man is esteemed any ways considerable for policy
            who wears religion otherwise than as a cloak.
                                                  --South.
   
   {Cloak bag}, a bag in which a cloak or other clothes are
      carried; a portmanteau. --Shak.
   
   

2. \Cloak\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cloaked}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Cloaking}.]
   To cover with, or as with, a cloak; hence, to hide or
   conceal.
   
         Now glooming sadly, so to cloak her matter. --Spenser.
   
   Syn: See {Palliate}.
   
   

an upper garment, "an exterior tunic, wide and long, reaching to the ankles, but without sleeves" (Isa. 59:17). The word so rendered is elsewhere rendered "robe" or "mantle." It was worn by the high priest under the ephod (Ex. 28:31), by kings and others of rank (1 Sam. 15:27; Job 1:20; 2:12), and by women (2 Sam. 13:18).

The word translated "cloke", i.e., outer garment, in Matt. 5:40 is in its plural form used of garments in general (Matt. 17:2; 26:65). The cloak mentioned here and in Luke 6:29 was the Greek himation, Latin pallium, and consisted of a large square piece of wollen cloth fastened round the shoulders, like the abba of the Arabs. This could be taken by a creditor (Ex. 22:26,27), but the coat or tunic (Gr. chiton) mentioned in Matt. 5:40 could not.

The cloak which Paul "left at Troas" (2 Tim. 4:13) was the Roman paenula, a thick upper garment used chiefly in travelling as a protection from the weather. Some, however, have supposed that what Paul meant was a travelling-bag. In the Syriac version the word used means a bookcase. (See Dress.)