cloak vs shroud

cloak

verb
  • To cover as with a cloak. 

  • To cover up, hide or conceal. 

  • To render or become invisible via futuristic technology. 

noun
  • A long outer garment worn over the shoulders covering the back; a cape, often with a hood. 

  • That which conceals; a disguise or pretext. 

  • A blanket-like covering, often metaphorical. 

  • A text replacement for an IRC user's hostname or IP address, making the user less identifiable. 

shroud

verb
  • To cover with a shroud. 

  • To take shelter or harbour. 

  • To conceal or hide from view, as if by a shroud. 

  • To lop the branches from (a tree). 

noun
  • That which clothes, covers, conceals, or protects; a garment. 

  • One of the two annular plates at the periphery of a water wheel, which form the sides of the buckets; a shroud plate. 

  • The branching top of a tree; foliage. 

  • One of a set of ropes or cables (rigging) attaching a mast to the sides of a vessel or to another anchor point, serving to support the mast sideways; such rigging collectively. 

  • A covered place used as a retreat or shelter, as a cave or den; also, a vault or crypt. 

  • That which covers or shelters like a shroud. 

  • A streamlined protective covering used to protect the payload during a rocket-powered launch. 

  • Especially, the dress for the dead; a winding sheet. 

How often have the words cloak and shroud occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )