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; 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.

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.

The act of enveloping or wrapping; an inclosing or covering on all sides.

Without a calyx, or outer floral envelope.

Naked; having no floral envelope, neither calyx nor corolla.

A vestment of white linen, reaching to the feet, an enveloping the person; -- in the Roman Catholic church, worn by those in holy orders when officiating at mass. It was formerly worn, at least by clerics, in daily life.

That group of vertebrates which develops in its embryonic life the envelope called the amnion. It comprises the reptiles, the birds, and the mammals.

Having some portion of the floral envelopes attached to the pericarp to form the fruit, as in the checkerberry, the mulberry, and the pineapple.

To deck or dress; to adorn with dress; to cloth to envelop; -- applied esp. to dress of a splendid kind. Pharaoh . . . arrayed him in vestures of fine linen. Gen. xli. In gelid caves with horrid gloom arrayed. Trumbull.

The whole mass of aëriform fluid surrounding the earth; -- applied also to the gaseous envelope of any celestial orb, or other body; as, the atmosphere of Mars.

re; of the nature of, or resembling, the atmosphere; as, atmospheric air; the atmospheric envelope of the earth.

To surround, or envelop, as water surrounds a person immersed. "The rosy shadows bathe me. " Tennyson. "The bright sunshine bathing all the world." Longfellow.

To envelop in mist. [Obs.]

In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds. I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud. Shak.

Braids, collectively; trimming. A gentleman enveloped in mustachios, whiskers, fur collars, and braiding. Thackeray.

A number of things bound together, as by a cord or envelope, into a mass or package convenient for handling or conveyance; a loose package; a roll; as, a bundle of straw or of paper; a bundle of old clothes. The fable of the rods, which, when united in a bundle, no strength could bend. Goldsmith. Bundle pillar (Arch.),…

Any rough or prickly envelope of the seeds of plants, whether a pericarp, a persistent calyx, or an involucre, as of the chestnut and burdock. Also, any weed which bears burs. Amongst rude burs and thistles. Milton. Bur and brake and brier. Tennyson.

A small cylindrical or spherical gelatinous envelope in which nauseous or acrid doses are inclosed to be swallowed.

A part of the amnion, one of the membranes enveloping the fetus, which sometimes is round the head of a child at its birth. It is deemed lucky to be with a caul or membrane over the face. This caul is esteemed an infallible preservative against drowning . . . According to Chysostom, the midwives frequently sold it for…

A cerecloth used for the special purpose of enveloping a dead body when embalmed.