The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Mantel \Man"tel\, n. [The same word as mantle a garment; cf. F.
   manteau de chemin['e]e. See Mantle.] (Arch.)
   The finish around a fireplace, covering the chimney-breast in
   front and sometimes on both sides; especially, a shelf above
   the fireplace, and its supports. The shelf is called also a
   mantelpiece or mantlepiece. [Written also mantle.]
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

mantle \man"tle\, n. [OE. mantel, OF. mantel, F. manteau, fr. L.
   mantellum, mantelum, a cloth, napkin, cloak, mantle (cf.
   mantele, mantile, towel, napkin); prob. from manus hand + the
   root of tela cloth. See Manual, Textile, and cf.
   Mandil, Mantel, Mantilla.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. A loose garment to be worn over other garments; an
      enveloping robe; a cloak. Hence, figuratively, a covering
      or concealing envelope.
      [1913 Webster]

            [The] children are clothed with mantles of satin.
                                                  --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

            The green mantle of the standing pool. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            Now Nature hangs her mantle green
            On every blooming tree.               --Burns.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Her.) Same as Mantling.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Zool.)
      (a) The external fold, or folds, of the soft, exterior
          membrane of the body of a mollusk. It usually forms a
          cavity inclosing the gills. See Illusts. of
          Buccinum, and Byssus.
      (b) Any free, outer membrane.
      (c) The back of a bird together with the folded wings.
          [1913 Webster]

   4. (Arch.) A mantel. See Mantel.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. The outer wall and casing of a blast furnace, above the
      hearth. --Raymond.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. (Hydraulic Engin.) A penstock for a water wheel.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. (Geol.) The highly viscous shell of hot semisolid rock,
      about 1800 miles thick, lying under the crust of the Earth
      and above the core. Also, by analogy, a similar shell on
      any other planet.
      [PJC]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Mantle \Man"tle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mantled; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Mantling.]
   To cover or envelop, as with a mantle; to cloak; to hide; to
   disguise. --Shak.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Mantle \Man"tle\, v. i.
   1. To unfold and spread out the wings, like a mantle; -- said
      of hawks. Also used figuratively.
      [1913 Webster]

            Ne is there hawk which mantleth on her perch.
                                                  --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

            Or tend his sparhawk mantling in her mew. --Bp.
                                                  Hall.
      [1913 Webster]

            My frail fancy fed with full delight.
            Doth bathe in bliss, and mantleth most at ease.
                                                  --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To spread out; -- said of wings.
      [1913 Webster]

            The swan, with arched neck
            Between her white wings mantling proudly, rows.
                                                  --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To spread over the surface as a covering; to overspread;
      as, the scum mantled on the pool.
      [1913 Webster]

            Though mantled in her cheek the blood. --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To gather, assume, or take on, a covering, as froth, scum,
      etc.
      [1913 Webster]

            There is a sort of men whose visages
            Do cream and mantle like a standing pond. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            Nor bowl of wassail mantle warm.      --Tennyson.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

mantle
    n 1: the cloak as a symbol of authority; "place the mantle of
         authority on younger shoulders"
    2: United States baseball player (1931-1997) [syn: Mantle,
       Mickey Mantle, Mickey Charles Mantle]
    3: the layer of the earth between the crust and the core
    4: anything that covers; "there was a blanket of snow" [syn:
       blanket, mantle]
    5: (zoology) a protective layer of epidermis in mollusks or
       brachiopods that secretes a substance forming the shell [syn:
       mantle, pallium]
    6: shelf that projects from wall above fireplace; "in Britain
       they call a mantel a chimneypiece" [syn: mantel,
       mantelpiece, mantle, mantlepiece, chimneypiece]
    7: hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window) [syn:
       curtain, drape, drapery, mantle, pall]
    8: a sleeveless garment like a cloak but shorter [syn: cape,
       mantle]
    v 1: spread over a surface, like a mantle
    2: cover like a mantle; "The ivy mantles the building"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

233 Moby Thesaurus words for "mantle":
   aerate, apply to, arachnoid, arbor vitae, archipallium, armory,
   badge, badge of office, badges, baton, beat, between brain, blanch,
   blanket, blazonry, block, blush, bonnet, boot, brain stem,
   brassard, breech, button, caduceus, canopy, cap, cap and gown,
   cape, cerebellar hemispheres, cerebellum, cerebral cortex,
   cerebrospinal fluid, cerebrum, chain, chain of office,
   change color, class ring, cloak, clothe, cloud, coat, cockade,
   coif, collar, color, color up, conceal, convolution, cope,
   corpus callosum, corpus striatum, cover, cover up, coverage,
   covering, covert, coverture, cowl, cowling, cream, crimson, crook,
   crosier, cross, cross-staff, curtain, darken, decoration,
   diencephalon, disguise, drape, drapery, dress, dura mater, eagle,
   eclipse, emblems, encircle, endbrain, ensigns, envelop, fasces,
   figurehead, film, fissure, flame, fleur-de-lis, flush, foam, folia,
   forebrain, fornix, frock, frontal lobe, froth, frown, gavel, glare,
   glial cells, globus pallidus, glow, glower, gnarl, gown,
   gray matter, grow red, growl, guise, gyrus, hammer and sickle,
   hanging, hat, heraldry, hide, hindbrain, hippocampus, hood,
   housing, hypothalamus, insignia, jacket, lapel pin, lather, lay on,
   lay over, lenticular nucleus, limbic lobe, little brain, livery,
   lobe, look black, look daggers, lower, mace, markings, mask, medal,
   medulla oblongata, meninges, mesencephalon, metencephalon,
   midbrain, mortarboard, muffle, myelencephalon, neopallium, obduce,
   obscure, occipital lobe, occult, old school tie, optic chiasm,
   overlay, overspread, pale, pall, pallium, parietal lobe, pelisse,
   pia mater, pin, pineal body, pink, pituitary body, pons, portfolio,
   put on, redden, regalia, reticular system, rhombencephalon, ring,
   robe, rod, rod of office, rose, rouge, scepter, school ring, scowl,
   screen, scum, shamrock, shawl, sheet, shelter, shield, shirt, shoe,
   shroud, sigillography, skull and crossbones, snap, snarl, sock,
   sphragistics, spit, spread over, spume,
   squirm with self-consciousness, staff, stammer, stocking,
   subthalamus, sud, suds, superimpose, superpose, surround, swastika,
   tartan, telencephalon, temporal lobe, thalamus, thistle, tie,
   truncheon, turn color, turn pale, turn red, uniform, veil,
   ventricle, verge, vermis, vestment, wand, wand of office, whip,
   whisk, white matter, whiten, wrap



Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Mantle
   (1.) Heb. 'addereth, a large over-garment. This word is used of
   Elijah's mantle (1 Kings 19:13, 19; 2 Kings 2:8, 13, etc.),
   which was probably a sheepskin. It appears to have been his only
   garment, a strip of skin or leather binding it to his loins.
   _'Addereth_ twice occurs with the epithet "hairy" (Gen. 25:25;
   Zech. 13:4, R.V.). It is the word denoting the "goodly
   Babylonish garment" which Achan coveted (Josh. 7:21).

     (2.) Heb. me'il, frequently applied to the "robe of the ephod"
   (Ex. 28:4, 31; Lev. 8:7), which was a splendid under tunic
   wholly of blue, reaching to below the knees. It was woven
   without seam, and was put on by being drawn over the head. It
   was worn not only by priests but by kings (1 Sam. 24:4),
   prophets (15:27), and rich men (Job 1:20; 2:12). This was the
   "little coat" which Samuel's mother brought to him from year to
   year to Shiloh (1 Sam. 2:19), a miniature of the official
   priestly robe.

     (3.) Semikah, "a rug," the garment which Jael threw as a
   covering over Sisera (Judg. 4:18). The Hebrew word occurs
   nowhere else in Scripture.

     (4.) Maataphoth, plural, only in Isa. 3:22, denoting a large
   exterior tunic worn by females. (See DRESS.)