Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Mantle \Man"tle\, n. [OE. mantel, OF. mantel, F. manteau, fr. L.
   mantellum, mantelum, a cloth, napkin, cloak, mantle (cf.
   mantele, mantile, towel, napkin); prob. from manus hand + the
   root of tela cloth. See {Manual}, {Textile}, and cf.
   {Mandil}, {Mantel}, {Mantilla}.]
   1. A loose garment to be worn over other garments; an
      enveloping robe; a cloak. Hence, figuratively, a covering
      or concealing envelope.

            [The] children are clothed with mantles of satin.
                                                  --Bacon.

            The green mantle of the standing pool. --Shak.

            Now Nature hangs her mantle green On every blooming
            tree.                                 --Burns.

   2. (Her.) Same as {Mantling}.

   3. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) The external fold, or folds, of the soft, exterior
          membrane of the body of a mollusk. It usually forms a
          cavity inclosing the gills. See Illusts. of
          {Buccinum}, and {Byssus}.
      (b) Any free, outer membrane.
      (c) The back of a bird together with the folded wings.

   4. (Arch.) A mantel. See {Mantel}.

   5. The outer wall and casing of a blast furnace, above the
      hearth. --Raymond.

   6. (Hydraulic Engin.) A penstock for a water wheel.

Mantle \Man"tle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Mantled}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Mantling}.]
   To cover or envelop, as with a mantle; to cloak; to hide; to
   disguise. --Shak.

Mantle \Man"tle\, v. i.
   1. To unfold and spread out the wings, like a mantle; -- said
      of hawks. Also used figuratively.

            Ne is there hawk which mantleth on her perch.
                                                  --Spenser.

            Or tend his sparhawk mantling in her mew. --Bp.
                                                  Hall.

            My frail fancy fed with full delight. Doth bathe in
            bliss, and mantleth most at ease.     --Spenser.

   2. To spread out; -- said of wings.

            The swan, with arched neck Between her white wings
            mantling proudly, rows.               --Milton.

   3. To spread over the surface as a covering; to overspread;
      as, the scum mantled on the pool.

            Though mantled in her cheek the blood. --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.

   4. To gather, assume, or take on, a covering, as froth, scum,
      etc.

            There is a sort of men whose visages Do cream and
            mantle like a standing pond.          --Shak.

            Nor bowl of wassail mantle warm.      --Tennyson.

Source : WordNet®

mantle
     v 1: spread over a surface, like a mantle
     2: cover like a mantle; "The ivy mantles the building"

mantle
     n 1: the cloak as a symbol of authority; "place the mantle of
          authority on younger shoulders"
     2: United States baseball player (1931-1997) [syn: {Mickey
        Mantle}, {Mickey Charles Mantle}]
     3: the layer of the earth between the crust and the core
     4: anything that covers; "there was a blanket of snow" [syn: {blanket}]
     5: (zoology) a protective layer of epidermis in mollusks or
        brachiopods that secretes a substance forming the shell
        [syn: {pallium}]
     6: shelf that projects from wall above fireplace; "in England
        they call a mantel a chimneypiece" [syn: {mantel}, {mantelpiece},
         {mantlepiece}, {chimneypiece}]
     7: hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)
        [syn: {curtain}, {drape}, {drapery}, {pall}]
     8: a sleeveless garment like a cloak but shorter [syn: {cape}]