1. [n]  burial garment in which a corpse is wrapped
2. [n]  a line (rope or chain) that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind
3. [n]  a line that suspends the harness from the canopy of a parachute
4. [v]  wrap in a shroud; of corpses
5. [v]  cover as if with a shroud; "The origins of this civilization are shrouded in mystery"
6. [v]  form a cover like a shroud; "Mist shrouded the castle"

Shroud
All his life, a rude, bad-tempered old man named Axel Vander has taken delight in telling lies--particularly about his true identity, which is a secret he refuses to divulge. Then a young woman named Cass, who may be mad, and who is undeniably brilliant, threatens to expose him for who he really is, and Vander is forced to travel back into the past he has so carefully hidden away. The character Cass Cleave appears in Banville`s previous novel, ECLIPSE. The character of Axel Vander, Banville implies in his acknowledgements, is based loosely on that of Paul de Man. A New York Times Notable Book for 2003.

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1. \Shroud\ (shroud), n. [OE. shroud, shrud, schrud, AS.
   scr[=u]d a garment, clothing; akin to Icel. skru[eth] the
   shrouds of a ship, furniture of a church, a kind of stuff,
   Sw. skrud dress, attire, and E. shred. See {Shred}, and cf.
   {Shrood}.]
   1. That which clothes, covers, conceals, or protects; a
      garment. --Piers Plowman.
            Swaddled, as new born, in sable shrouds. --Sandys.
   2. Especially, the dress for the dead; a winding sheet. ``A
      dead man in his shroud.'' --Shak.
   3. That which covers or shelters like a shroud.
            Jura answers through her misty shroud. --Byron.
   4. A covered place used as a retreat or shelter, as a cave or
      den; also, a vault or crypt. [Obs.]
            The shroud to which he won His fair-eyed oxen.
                                                  --Chapman.
            A vault, or shroud, as under a church. --Withals.
   5. The branching top of a tree; foliage. [R.]
            The Assyrian wad a cedar in Lebanon, with fair
            branches and with a shadowing shroad. --Ezek. xxxi.
                                                  3.
   6. pl. (Naut.) A set of ropes serving as stays to support the
      masts. The lower shrouds are secured to the sides of
      vessels by heavy iron bolts and are passed around the head
      of the lower masts.
   7. (Mach.) One of the two annular plates at the periphery of
      a water wheel, which form the sides of the buckets; a
      shroud plate.
   {Bowsprit shrouds} (Naut.), ropes extending from the head of
      the bowsprit to the sides of the vessel.
   {Futtock shrouds} (Naut.), iron rods connecting the topmast
      rigging with the lower rigging, passing over the edge of
      the top.
   {Shroud plate}.
      (a) (Naut.) An iron plate extending from the dead-eyes to
          the ship's side. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
      (b) (Mach.) A shroud. See def. 7, above.
   

2. \Shroud\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Shrouded}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Shrouding}.] [Cf. AS. scr?dan. See {Shroud}, n.]
   1. To cover with a shroud; especially, to inclose in a
      winding sheet; to dress for the grave.
            The ancient Egyptian mummies were shrouded in a
            number of folds of linen besmeared with gums.
                                                  --Bacon.
   2. To cover, as with a shroud; to protect completely; to
      cover so as to conceal; to hide; to veil.
            One of these trees, with all his young ones, may
            shroud four hundred horsemen.         --Sir W.
                                                  Raleigh.
            Some tempest rise, And blow out all the stars that
            light the skies, To shroud my shame.  --Dryden.
   

3. \Shroud\, v. i.
   To take shelter or harbor. [Obs.]
         If your stray attendance be yet lodged, Or shroud
         within these limits.                     --Milton.
   

4. \Shroud\, v. t.
   To lop. See {Shrood}. [Prov. Eng.]