a loose, sleeveless cloak or cape: sometimes used figuratively, in allusion to royal robes of state, as a symbol of authority or responsibility
anything that cloaks, envelops, covers, or conceals: hidden under the mantle of night
a small meshwork hood made of a noncombustible substance, such as a thorium or cerium compound, which when placed over a flame, as in a lantern, gives off a brilliant incandescent light
the outer wall and casing of a blast furnace, above the hearth
a major part of a mollusk or similar organism consisting of a sheet of epithelial tissue with muscular, neural, and glandular elements: it covers the viscera and foot under the shell of univalve or bivalve mollusks, secretes the shell, and forms the body of cephalopods
the soft outer body wall of a tunicate or barnacle
the plumage on the back and folded wings of certain birds when it is all the same color