break cover
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Emerge into the open.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
You simply resisted your natural temptation to worry about the man breaking cover, and took the hit - man before he took you.
A group broke cover in front of him, but his headlights were on full beam and blinded them, protected him as he drove past.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “break cover” mean?
Emerge into the open.
Is “break cover” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.