mantle
A role or important job that one person had before and another person takes after them.
A particular role, duty, or position of responsibility that is taken over from someone else, especially in public life or leadership.
A layer that covers something, like a blanket over it.
A layer or covering that lies over or around something, sometimes used metaphorically for conditions that hide or protect.
The very thick middle layer of the Earth that lies between the thin outer crust and the inner core.
The thick layer of hot, solid but slowly flowing rock between the Earth's crust and its core.
A long, loose coat or cloak that you wear over your other clothes, often in old stories or historical times.
A long, loose cloak or outer garment worn over other clothes, often without sleeves and sometimes with a hood.
The cloth part of an old gas lamp that gets very bright when the gas flame heats it.
A small fabric or mesh bag in a gas lamp that becomes white-hot and gives off light when heated by a gas flame.
In biology, a layer of body tissue that covers or protects another part, for example in shellfish or the brain.
An outer layer of tissue that covers or protects an organ or organism, especially the soft body wall in mollusks or the outer layer of the brain.
In the study of birds, the feathers on the top of a bird's back and shoulders.
In ornithology, the area of feathers covering a bird’s upper back and the base of the neck and wings.
The shelf over a fireplace, often used to put photos or decorations on, spelled "mantle" here but more often "mantel."
The shelf above a fireplace, especially when "mantle" is used as a spelling variant of "mantel."
To cover something like a layer over it.
To cover, surround, or spread over something like a cloak or layer.
For someone’s face or cheeks to turn a little red because of a feeling like shame, pride, or excitement.
Of the face or cheeks, to become lightly covered with a warm or reddish color, often as a result of emotion.
- Base: mantle
- Plural: mantles
- Base: mantle
- 3rd Person Singular: mantles
- Present Participle: mantling
- Past: mantled
assume the mantle (of)
1begin to perform an inherited role
To start doing an important job or duty that someone else used to do, especially in a serious or public way.
- A new generation is assuming the mantle of leadership in the party.
- She assumed the mantle of chairperson after the election.
mantle of authority
1recognized power and right to lead
The power and right to lead or make decisions, seen as something that a person wears or carries.
- He speaks with the mantle of authority that comes from long experience.
- Once she put on the mantle of authority, her colleagues treated her differently.
mantle of leadership
1role and duty of being leader
The role and heavy responsibility of being the leader of a group or organization.
- She accepted the mantle of leadership at a difficult time for the company.
- The mantle of leadership now rests on his shoulders.
mantle of responsibility
1heavy burden of responsibility
A serious set of duties or work that someone must accept and carry.
- He took on the mantle of responsibility for the entire project.
- With fame comes a mantle of responsibility that many people do not expect.
mantle of secrecy
1state of deliberate secrecy
A situation where information is kept secret on purpose and hidden from the public.
- The talks were held under a tight mantle of secrecy.
- For years, the program operated under a mantle of secrecy.
pass the mantle (to)
1hand over a role or duty
To give your role, job, or responsibility to someone who will do it after you.
- The editor passed the mantle to her younger colleague after twenty years.
- It's time for him to pass the mantle of leadership to someone new.
take on the mantle (of)
1accept a passed-on role
To accept a role, job, or responsibility that another person had before you.
- She is ready to take on the mantle of director when her boss retires.
- After his father stepped down, he took on the mantle of family leader.
take up the mantle
1continue someone else’s task or cause
To continue an important job, fight, or cause that another person started.
- Young activists have taken up the mantle of climate justice.
- After the founder died, her students took up the mantle and kept the project alive.