Camouflage - Oxford Learner's Dictionaries

Oxford logo Toggle navigation Redeem Upgrade Help Sign in

• Dictionaries
  • Dictionaries home
  • English
  • American English
  • Academic
  • Collocations
  • German-English
• Grammar
  • Grammar home
  • Practical English Usage
  • Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta)
• Word Lists
  • Word Lists home
  • My Word Lists
  • Topics
  • Recent additions
• Resources
  • Resources home
  • Text Checker

Sign in Dictionaries

• Dictionaries home
• English
• American English
• Academic
• Collocations
• German-English

Grammar

• Grammar home
• Practical English Usage
• Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta)

Word Lists

• Word Lists home
• My Word Lists
• Topics
• Recent additions

Resources

• Resources home
• Text Checker

Redeem Upgrade Help TOP English English American English Academic English Collocations Practical English Usage German-English English-German English American English Enter search text

Definition of camouflage noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

camouflage noun  /ˈkæməflɑːʒ/  /ˈkæməflɑːʒ/ jump to other results

1. [uncountable] a way of hiding soldiers and military equipment, using paint, leaves or nets, so that they look like part of what is around or near them
   • a camouflage jacket (= covered with green and brown marks and worn by soldiers)
   • troops dressed in camouflage
   • He pulled the camouflage net over the entrance to the tent.
   Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
   • effective
   • excellent
   • good
   • …
   verb + camouflage
   • act as
   • provide
   • wear
   • …
   camouflage + noun
   • pattern
   • gear
   • uniform
   • …
   See full entry

   Definitions on the go

   Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.

   
2. [uncountable, singular] the way in which an animal’s colour or shape matches what is around or near it and makes it difficult to see
   • The whiteness of polar bears and arctic foxes provides camouflage.
   • The leopard’s spots act as (a) camouflage.
   • Predators make as much use of camouflage as their prey do.
   Topics Animalsc1Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
   • effective
   • excellent
   • good
   • …
   verb + camouflage
   • act as
   • provide
   • wear
   • …
   camouflage + noun
   • pattern
   • gear
   • uniform
   • …
   See full entry
3. [uncountable, singular] behaviour that is deliberately meant to hide the truth
   • Her angry words were camouflage for the way she felt.
Word OriginFirst World War: from French, from camoufler ‘to disguise’ (originally thieves' slang), from Italian camuffare ‘disguise, deceive’, perhaps by association with French camouflet ‘whiff of smoke in the face’.

See camouflage in the Oxford Advanced American DictionaryCheck pronunciation: camouflage

Other results

All matches

• camouflage verb

Nearby words

• camogie noun
• camomile noun
• camouflage noun
• camouflage verb
• camp noun

snowboarding noun From the Topic Sports B1 Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day