"cover one's tracks" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "covers one's tracks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "covering one's tracks",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "covered one's tracks",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "covered one's tracks",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "cover one's tracks"
      },
      "expansion": "cover one's tracks (third-person singular simple present covers one's tracks, present participle covering one's tracks, simple past and past participle covered one's tracks)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Danish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1959 September, “Talking of Trains”, in Trains Illustrated, page 401, photo caption:",
          "text": "C.I.E. Class \"D14\" 4-4-0 No. 89 covers its tracks with a magnificent smokescreen as it pulls out of Dun Laoghaire with the 9.0 a.m. boat train for Dublin. [in this case, railway tracks]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To conceal how one arrived at a certain result or position."
      ],
      "id": "en-cover_one's_tracks-en-verb-LSbkROvW",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) To conceal how one arrived at a certain result or position."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "slette sine spor"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "peittää jälkensä"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "zametátʹ sledý",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "замета́ть следы́"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "cover one's tracks"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "covers one's tracks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "covering one's tracks",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "covered one's tracks",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "covered one's tracks",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "cover one's tracks"
      },
      "expansion": "cover one's tracks (third-person singular simple present covers one's tracks, present participle covering one's tracks, simple past and past participle covered one's tracks)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Danish translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Translation table header lacks gloss"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1959 September, “Talking of Trains”, in Trains Illustrated, page 401, photo caption:",
          "text": "C.I.E. Class \"D14\" 4-4-0 No. 89 covers its tracks with a magnificent smokescreen as it pulls out of Dun Laoghaire with the 9.0 a.m. boat train for Dublin. [in this case, railway tracks]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To conceal how one arrived at a certain result or position."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) To conceal how one arrived at a certain result or position."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "slette sine spor"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "peittää jälkensä"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "zametátʹ sledý",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "замета́ть следы́"
    }
  ],
  "word": "cover one's tracks"
}