小词详解 | covert

covert 英 [ˈkʌvət] 美 [ˈkoʊvɜːrt , ˈkʌvərt]

• But translating such knowledge into a practical identification system can be tricky—especially if that system is supposed to be covert.
  但要将这些知识转化为实用的识别系统并不容易，尤其是还需要实现隐蔽性。
  ——《经济学人》
• During the Cold War, Washington feared that Moscow was seeking to turn microwave radiation into covert weapons of mind control.
  冷战期间，华盛顿曾担心莫斯科试图将微波辐射变成隐蔽的精神控制武器。
  ——《纽约时报》

• 他隔着崭新的桌子偷偷地瞥了她一眼。
  He stole a covert glance at her across the pristine table.
  
• 社会上的颠覆分子一直在暗地里向叛乱者提供军事支援。
  Subversive elements in society have been supplying covert military aid to the rebels.
  

• 在黎明时分包围狐狸藏身的灌木林
  surround fox coverts at dawn

He seemed to know, and he sometimes said in covert words, that some one had gleaned certain information in a certain district about a family which had disappeared.
他仿佛已经知道底蕴，有时他还遮遮掩掩地说，已有人在某地调查过某个消失了的人家的某些情况。

• arcane: understood by few; mysterious or secret
• furtive: attempting to avoid notice or attention, typically because of guilt or a belief that discovery would lead to trouble; secretive
• clandestine: kept secret or done secretively, especially because illicit