Disclose Meaning
/dɪsˈkləʊz/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo open up; unfasten.
verbTo uncover; physically expose to view.
Sentence Examples
She will have the courage to disclose their secret.
She would not disclose the secret.
The spokesman refused to disclose details of the takeover to the press.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The politician refused to ____ his financial records to the public.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She will have the courage to ____ their secret.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English disclosen, from Middle French desclos, from Old French desclore, itself from Vulgar Latin disclaudere, from Latin dis- + claudere (“to close, shut”) or as a variant of discludo, discludere (cf. disclude). By surface analysis, dis- + close.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The estrich layeth her eggs under sand, where the heat of the discloseth them."
— 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
"The shells being broken, […] the stone included in them is thereby disclosed and set at liberty."
— 1695, John Woodward, “(please specify the page)”, in An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth: And Terrestrial Bodies, Especially Minerals: […], London: […] Ric[hard] Wilkin […], →OCLC:
"And it seemed to me that the dream smote the roof above my bed, and the roof opened and disclosed the outer dark, and in the dark travelled a bearded star, and the night was quick with fiery signs."
— 1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 18:
"Some [nest toys] open to disclose a set of babies, tumbling dolls with weights, or old men might open so that they could be used as money-boxes."
— 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 166:
"Its brown curtain was only half drawn, disclosing the elegant legs, clad in transparent black, of a female seated inside."
— 1972, Vladimir Nabokov, Transparent Things, McGraw-Hill, published 1972, page 13:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The politician refused to ____ his financial records to the public.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She will have the courage to ____ their secret.