Concealment

n.	1.	The act of concealing; the state of being concealed. But let concealment, like a worm i' the bud, Feed on her damask cheek. - Shak. Some dear cause Will in concealment wrap me up awhile. - Shak.
	2.	A place of hiding; a secret place; a retreat frem observation. The cleft tree Offers its kind concealment to a few. - Thomson.
	3.	A secret; out of the way knowledge. Well read in strange concealments. - Shak.
	4.	(Law) Suppression of such facts and circumstances as in justice ought to be made known.

Noun	1.	concealment - the condition of being concealed or hidden Synonyms: privateness, secrecy, privacy
	2.	concealment - a covering that serves to conceal or shelter something; "they crouched behind the screen"; "under cover of darkness" Synonyms: cover, covert, screen
	3.	concealment - the activity of keeping something secret Synonyms: concealing, hiding

CONCEALMENT, contracts. The unlawful suppression of any fact or circumstance, by one of the parties to a contract, from the other, which in justice ought to be made known. 1 Bro. Ch. R. 420; 1 Fonbl. Eq. B. 1, c. 3, Sec. 4, note (n); 1 Story, Eq. Jur. Sec. 207.
     2. Fraud occurs when one person substantially misrepresents or conceals a material fact peculiarly within his own knowledge, in consequence of which a delusion exists; or uses a device naturally calculated to lull the suspicions of a careful man, and induce him to forego inquiry into a matter upon which the other party has information, although such information be not exclusively within his reach. 2 Bl. Com. 451; 3 Id. 166; Sugd. Vend. 1 to 10; 1 Com. Contr. 38; 3 B. & C. 623; 5 D. & R. 490; 2 Wheat. 183; 11 Id. 59; 1 Pet. Sup. C. R. 15, 16. The party is not bound, however, to disclose patent defects. Sugd. Vend. 2.
     3. A distinction has been made between the concealment of latent defects in real and personal property. For example, the concealment by an agent that a nuisance existed in connexion with a house the owner had to hire, did not render the lease void. 6 IV. & M. 358. 1 Smith, 400. The rule with regard to personalty is different. 3 Camp. 508; 3 T. R. 759.
     4. In insurances, where fairness is so essential to, the contract, a concealment which is only the effect of accident, negligence, inadvertence, or mistake, if material, is equally fatal to the contract as if it were intentional and fraudulent. 1 Bl. R. 594; 3 Burr. 1909. The insured is required to disclose all the circumstances within his own knowledge only, which increase the risk. He is not, however, bound to disclose general circumstances which apply to all policies of a particular description, notwithstanding they may greatly increase the risk. Under this rule, it has been decided that a policy is void, which was obtained by the concealment by the assured of the fact that he had heard that a vessel like his was taken. 2 P. Wms. 170. And in a case where the assured had information of "a violent storm" about eleven hours after his vessel had sailed, and had stated only that "there had been blowing weather and severe storms on the coast after the vessel had sailed" but without any reference to the particular storm it was decided that this was a concealment, which vitiated the policy. 2 Caines R. 57. Vide 1 Marsh. Ins: 468; Park, Ins. 276; 14 East, R. 494; 1 John. R. 522; 2 Cowen, 56; 1 Caines, 276; 3 Wash. C. C. Rep. 138; 2 Gallis. 353; 12 John. 128.
     5. Fraudulent concealment avoids the contract. See, generally, Verpl. on Contr. passim; Bouv. Inst. Index, h.t.; Marsh. Ins. B. 1, c. 9; 1 Bell's Com. B. 2, pt. 3, c. 15 s. 3, Sec. 1; 1 M. & S. 517; 2 Marsh. R. 336.

abri, air-raid shelter, airtight secrecy, asylum, bolt-hole, bomb shelter, bombproof, bunker, cache, cave, close secrecy, closeness, corner, cover, covert, coverture, cranny, crypticness, cubby, cubbyhole, cyclone cellar, dark corner, den, disappearance, discreetness, discretion, dugout, earth, evasion, evasiveness, fallout shelter, foxhole, funk hole, hiddenness, hideaway, hideout, hidey hole, hiding, hiding place, hole, hugger-mugger, hugger-muggery, immateriality, imperceptibility, indiscernibility, invisibility, lair, niche, nonappearance, nook, recess, refuge, retreat, safety zone, sanctuary, secrecy, secret place, secretiveness, secretness, shelter, stash, storm cave, storm cellar, subterfuge, the dark, the invisible, the unseen, trench, uncommunicativeness, undercovert, unperceivability, unseeableness, unsubstantiality, viewlessness