UMBRELLA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does umbrella mean? 

• UMBRELLA (noun)
  The noun UMBRELLA has 3 senses:

1. a lightweight handheld collapsible canopy

2. a formation of military planes maintained over ground operations or targets

3. having the function of uniting a group of similar things

  Familiarity information: UMBRELLA used as a noun is uncommon.

• UMBRELLA (adjective)
  The adjective UMBRELLA has 1 sense:

1. covering or applying simultaneously to a number of similar items or elements or groups

  Familiarity information: UMBRELLA used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UMBRELLA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A lightweight handheld collapsible canopy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("umbrella" is a kind of...):

canopy (a covering (usually of cloth) that serves as a roof to shelter an area from the weather)

Meronyms (parts of "umbrella"):

gore; panel (a piece of cloth that is generally triangular or tapering; used in making garments or umbrellas or sails)

grip; handgrip; handle; hold (the appendage to an object that is designed to be held in order to use or move it)

rib (support resembling the rib of an animal)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "umbrella"):

brolly; gamp (colloquial terms for an umbrella)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A formation of military planes maintained over ground operations or targets

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

an air umbrella over England

Hypernyms ("umbrella" is a kind of...):

defence; defense; defensive measure ((military) military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Having the function of uniting a group of similar things

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

under the umbrella of capitalism

Hypernyms ("umbrella" is a kind of...):

conjugation; jointure; unification; union; uniting (the act of making or becoming a single unit)

• UMBRELLA (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Covering or applying simultaneously to a number of similar items or elements or groups

Context example:

umbrella insurance coverage

Similar:

comprehensive (including all or everything)

 Context examples 

How I hate the sight of an umbrella!

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

You have not an umbrella that I can use as a stick?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I opened the door; and at first looked down, to my amazement, on nothing but a great umbrella that appeared to be walking about of itself.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“Give me your coat and umbrella,” said Holmes.

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

“I will see that there are umbrellas, sir,” said Frank to his father: “Miss Bates must not be forgotten:” and away he went.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The girl had to work hard during the day, and often the Witch threatened to beat her with the same old umbrella she always carried in her hand.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

"We were only talking. Mr. Brooke came for his umbrella," began Meg, wishing that Mr. Brooke and the umbrella were safely out of the house.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Because of Io's low gravity, large eruptions produce an umbrella of debris that rises high into space.

(A Hellacious Two Weeks on Jupiter's Moon Io, NASA)

This warms the surface and produces rain that creates a thick layer of clouds, which acts like an umbrella to shield the surface from much of the solar heating.

(NASA Climate Modeling Suggests Venus May Have Been Habitable, NASA)

You can slip in from the shrubbery at any time; and there you will find we keep our umbrellas hanging up by that door.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)