- mask
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun1 cover for sb's faceADJECTIVE▪ face, facial, full-face▪ gas▪ breathing, oxygen▪ dust▪ protective▪ surgical▪ hockey (AmE), ski▪ HalloweenVERB + MASK▪ have on, wear▪ don, put on▪ pull off, remove, strip off, take off, tear off▪
In the second part of the play, the actors take off their masks.
MASK + VERB▪ conceal sth, cover sth, hide sth▪The man's face was hidden by a mask.
PREPOSITION▪ behind a/the mask, beneath a/the mask▪Two eyes glared at him from beneath the mask.
▪ in a/the mask▪two men in black masks
▪ mask over▪She wore a mask over her face.
2 sth that hides sb's real feelingsADJECTIVE▪ blank, cold, emotionless, expressionless, impassive, stony▪Her face was a blank mask as she answered my question.
MASK + VERB▪ slip▪For a moment her mask slipped, and I saw how scared she really was.
PREPOSITION▪ behind a/the mask▪Behind the mask of friendliness, I know he really dislikes me.
▪ mask for▪His fooling around is a mask for his lack of confidence.
PHRASES▪ a mask of indifference▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}He was hiding behind a mask of indifference but she wasn't fooled.
verbADVERB▪ completely▪ not quite, partially, partly▪ barely▪ effectivelyVERB + MASK▪ tend to▪Varnish tends to mask the natural grain of the wood.
PREPOSITION▪ with▪She masked her anger with a smile.
Mask is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑veneerMask is used with these nouns as the object: ↑disappointment, ↑emotion, ↑fear, ↑feeling, ↑identity, ↑impatience, ↑insecurity, ↑pain, ↑problem, ↑smell
Collocations dictionary. 2013.