Concealment is the act of hiding something or keeping it secret. When you practice concealment, you deliberately prevent others from seeing, knowing, or discovering something. A spy might use concealment to hide secret documents. A magician uses concealment to keep the audience from seeing how a trick works.

Concealment requires intention: you have to mean to hide something. If you forget your homework under your bed, that's not concealment. But if you deliberately hide it there hoping your parents won't find it, that's concealment. Animals practice concealment too: a chameleon's ability to change colors provides concealment from predators.

The word often appears in contexts involving secrecy or protection. Police might discover someone's concealment of evidence in a crime. A witness might be charged with concealment of important information. In history, people sometimes built secret rooms or hidden compartments for the concealment of valuable items during dangerous times.

Concealment can be innocent: giving someone a surprise party requires the concealment of your plans. But it can also be serious: concealment of the truth is a form of dishonesty. When someone practices concealment, they're actively working to keep something from being discovered, whether it's a birthday present, a secret location, or information they don't want others to know.