Library / English Dictionary

REVEAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret

Example:

The newspaper uncovered the President's illegal dealings

Synonyms:

break; bring out; disclose; discover; divulge; expose; give away; let on; let out; reveal; uncover; unwrap

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "reveal" is one way to...):

tell (let something be known)

Cause:

break; get around; get out (be released or become known; of news)

Verb group:

break; get around; get out (be released or become known; of news)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reveal"):

blackwash (bring (information) out of concealment)

muckrake (explore and expose misconduct and scandals concerning public figures)

blow (cause to be revealed and jeopardized)

out (reveal (something) about somebody's identity or lifestyle)

come out; come out of the closet; out (to state openly and publicly one's homosexuality)

spring (produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly)

betray; bewray (reveal unintentionally)

confide (reveal in private; tell confidentially)

leak (tell anonymously)

babble; babble out; blab; blab out; let the cat out of the bag; peach; sing; spill the beans; talk; tattle (divulge confidential information or secrets)

reveal (disclose directly or through prophets)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They reveal that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

revealing (the speech act of making something evident)

revelation (an enlightening or astonishing disclosure)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make visible

Example:

He brings out the best in her

Synonyms:

bring out; reveal; unveil

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "reveal" is one way to...):

show (make visible or noticeable)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reveal"):

disclose; expose; uncover (reveal to view as by removing a cover)

excavate; unearth (recover through digging)

trot out (bring out and show for inspection and admiration)

unfold (open to the view)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Disclose directly or through prophets

Example:

God rarely reveal his plans for Mankind

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "reveal" is one way to...):

break; bring out; disclose; discover; divulge; expose; give away; let on; let out; reveal; uncover; unwrap (make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret)

Domain category:

theological system; theology (a particular system or school of religious beliefs and teachings)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

Revelation (the last book of the New Testament; contains visionary descriptions of heaven and of conflicts between good and evil and of the end of the world; attributed to Saint John the Apostle)

revelation (communication of knowledge to man by a divine or supernatural agency)

revelatory (prophetic of devastation or ultimate doom)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I am sure that there is something on her mind which the time of exact sunset will reveal.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Endoscopic examination reveals esophageal mucosal ulcerations and pseudomembranous formations.

(Bacterial Esophagitis, NCI Thesaurus)

If I have any secret, it is—no new one; and is—not what you suppose. I cannot reveal it, or divide it. It has long been mine, and must remain mine.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A report released this week reveals 381 new species of plants and animals found in the Amazon between 2014 and 2015.

(Report unveils 381 new plant and animal species in Amazon, Agência Brasil)

My friend’s plans were gradually revealing themselves.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Hear me; let me reveal my tale, and you will dash the cup from your lips!

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Every fresh advance which we make only reveals a fresh ridge beyond.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

How could I tell all this without revealing the family scandal which he was so anxious to conceal?

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My master, sire, is under vow to the Virgin neither to reveal his name nor to open his vizor until he is back upon French ground once more.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Examination of these neurons in diseased tissue has revealed the presence of Lewy bodies, dense aggregates that include the protein alpha-synuclein.

(Parkinson's Disease Pathway BioCarta, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)