different between conceal vs smokescreen

English

Etymology

From Middle English concelen, from Old French conceler (“hide, disguise”), from Latin concel?re, infinitive of concel? (“carefully disguise”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k?n?si?l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /k?n?sil/
• Rhymes: -i?l
• Hyphenation: con?ceal

Verb

conceal (third-person singular simple present conceals, present participle concealing, simple past and past participle concealed)

1. (transitive) To hide something from view or from public knowledge, to try to keep something secret.

   • Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed.

Synonyms

• hide
• obfuscate
• secrete

Antonyms

• reveal
• uncover
• admit

Related terms

• concealing, concealed
• concealer
• concealment

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• smoke screen

Etymology

From smoke +? screen.

Pronunciation

Noun

smokescreen (plural smokescreens)

1. Smoke used as a disguise, mask or cover, as of troops in battle.
   • 1951, Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Chapter 25, Part 5, p. 284,^[1]

     Ensign Whitely began to tell of the surprise encounter of Admiral Sprague’s escort-carrier force with the main battle line of the Japanese Navy off Samar, in a chaos of rain squalls and smoke screens.

2. (figuratively) Anything used metaphorically to conceal or distract.
   • 1968, Desmond Bagley, The Vivero Letter, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Chapter 8, p. 163,^[2]

     It was all very plausible and, as he poured out his smokescreen of words, I became fidgety for fear Fallon would be too direct with him.

Translations

See also

• smoke test