to cover one's ass
32
9.8
- idiom
- Offensive
:
salvarse el culo
- To avoid any blame, she made sure to cover her ass by keeping a record of all her decisions.
- trying to cover your ass
- just to cover his ass
- cover your own ass
Examples
-
No wonder Frank was trying to cover his ass on this one.
Fiction book (1999) -
I just think Mr. Smallballs is trying to cover his own ass.
Blog text (4) -
I just want to cover my ass.
-
I got to cover your ass every time.
-
The point being that now she has to cover her ass.
-
If the company knows anything, it's how to cover its ass.
Fiction book (1995) -
Gotta give him credit for covering his ass in that regard.
Blog text (27) -
You're just trying to cover your ass for letting him escape!
Fiction book (1991) -
Kevin, if there's one thing I know, it's how to cover my ass.
-
Well, don't take it out on me; I'm just covering my ass.
Fiction book (1995)
Synonyms
8
7.7
To hide a problem instead of dealing with it openly
2
7.2
Stop people finding out about a mistake, crime, or embarrassing event
1
9.3
To help someone out of a dangerous or embarrassing situation at the last moment
To keep secret wrong actions or mistakes from other people
To ignore or hide problems instead of dealing with them
Antonyms
How Protective
- Offensive
32
9.8
25
3.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The basic sense — protecting oneself — is partially derivable because 'cover' means protect and 'one's ass' figuratively refers to oneself, so a learner can infer a general meaning of self-protection. However, the phrase's vulgar register and the specific pragmatic nuance (protecting against blame by creating evidence or shifting responsibility) are idiomatic and not fully predictable from the parts, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Cover one's ass comes from a clear picture: someone putting something over their ass to cover and protect it. So 'to cover one's ass' now means 'to protect yourself from blame or trouble', often by keeping proof or making excuses.