Definition of cover up

The phrase "cover up" emerged in the 1950s, initially used to describe the protective clothing worn by scientists and workers in highly hazardous situations such as handling radioactive materials or working in extreme temperatures. However, by the late 1960s, the term "cover up" began to be used in a new context as a way to describe the concealment of information or wrongdoing. The first recorded use of this meaning of the term appeared in a 1968 New York Times article discussing the FBI's efforts to hide evidence of its involvement in the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers in Mississippi. The term "cover up" quickly gained popularity in the political sphere, as it became a way to discredit individuals or organizations attempting to conceal misdeeds or incompetence. The term has been used in a number of high-profile scandals, including the Watergate investigation, which resulted in the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974, and the Iran-Contra Affair of the 1980s, in which senior officials in the Reagan administration were accused of attempting to cover up their involvement in an arms deal with Iran. Today, "cover up" is a widely recognized term that is used both in everyday conversation and in legal and political contexts to refer to the deliberate suppression or disguising of embarrassing or incriminating information.