Crossword clues for envelop
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Envelope \En"vel*ope\ (?; 277), Envelop \En*vel"op\ (?; 277), n.
That which envelops, wraps up, encases, or surrounds; a wrapper; an inclosing cover; esp., the cover or wrapper of a document, as of a letter.
(Astron.) The nebulous covering of the head or nucleus of a comet; -- called also coma.
(Fort.) A work of earth, in the form of a single parapet or of a small rampart. It is sometimes raised in the ditch and sometimes beyond it.
--Wilhelm.-
(Geom.) A curve or surface which is tangent to each member of a system of curves or surfaces, the form and position of the members of the system being allowed to vary according to some continuous law. Thus, any curve is the envelope of its tangents.
4. A set of limits for the performance capabilities of some type of machine, originally used to refer to aircraft; -- it is often described graphically as a two-dimensional graph of a function showing the maximum of one performance variable as a function of another. Now it is also used metaphorically to refer to capabilities of any system in general, including human organizations, esp. in the phrase push the envelope. It is used to refer to the maximum performance available at the current state of the technology, and therefore refers to a class of machines in general, not a specific machine.
push the envelope to increase the capability of some type of machine or system; -- usually by technological development.
Envelop \En*vel"op\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Enveloped; p. pr. & vb. n. Enveloping.] [OE. envolupen, envolipen, OF. envoluper, envoleper, F. envelopper; pref. en- (L. in) + voluper, voleper. See Develop.] To put a covering about; to wrap up or in; to inclose within a case, wrapper, integument or the like; to surround entirely; as, to envelop goods or a letter; the fog envelops a ship.
Nocturnal shades this world envelop.
--J. Philips.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
late 14c., envolupen, "be involved" (in sin, crime, etc.), from Old French envoleper "envelop, cover; fold up, wrap up" (10c., Modern French envelopper), from en- "in" (see en- (1)) + voloper "wrap up," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps Celtic (see Gamillscheg, Diez) or Germanic ("Century Dictionary"). Literal sense is from 1580s. Related: Enveloped; enveloping.
Wiktionary
vb. (context transitive English) To surround or enclose.
WordNet
Wikipedia
Usage examples of "envelop".
Finally, within the spaces of the arachnoid is a lymph-like liquid which completely envelops the brain and the cord, and which, by serving as a watery cushion, protects them from jars and shocks.
Around her were the blue flowers softly waving to and fro, and beyond the gleaming patches of the cistus flowers and the red centaury, while the sweet scent of the brown blossoms and of the fragrant prunella enveloped her as she sat.
However, the mystery which enveloped its strange destruction would doubtless never have been cleared away if, on the 30th of November, Neb, strolling on the beach, had not found a piece of a thick iron cylinder, bearing traces of explosion.
Already the shadow of the Cathedral seemed to envelop her, and she was on the point of entering her own garden by the little gate which separated it from the Clos, without having once glanced behind her.
The sky was overcast, and, as they drove along the bank of the Coquille River, the fog suddenly enveloped them.
Inspired, no doubt, by the mysterious daily production of the information and by the aura of sorcery and the occult that has always enveloped cryptology, he called it magic.
Instead, she was enveloped in a case of the doldrums such as she had never before experienced.
Spiritual beings, emanating from God, are enveloped in the duad, and therefore receive only illusory impressions.
The voluminous folds of her white gowns were tucked around and behind her, the purity and newness of the starched linen fabric contrasting sharply with the rough, papery skin and wispy strands of hair it enframed and enveloped.
A cold, clammy sweat had enveloped his body the moment he realised his latest pursuer was not Romanov.
I walked through the old stone gate and was instantly enveloped in comforting darkness.
His native town was enveloped in smoke, and on the spot where his home had been, where he had grown up and where his mother had lived, reared a bare, sooty, monstrous chimney, like this one here.
Alexei felt as though he were enveloped in a dense, hot mist, through which he could obtain only a hazy picture of what was going on.
Sooty, suffocating flames enveloped the tank, but the crew remained in action.
In the evenings, when mist enveloped the huge construction project, the builders would withdraw into their barracks, close the windows and light smoky fires of damp twigs outside the doors to drive away the swarms of mosquitoes and gnats which filled the air with a sinister, high-pitched buzzing.