cacher

The everyday verb for hiding something or someone (cacher un objet, se cacher). Extremely common, at the core of everyday vocabulary — cache-cache (hide and seek), ne rien cacher à quelqu'un (to hide nothing from someone), cacher son jeu (to hide one's true intentions/hand).

• Elle cache ses clés sous le tapis. — She hides her keys under the mat.
• Les enfants adorent jouer à cache-cache. — Children love playing hide and seek.
• Il ne cache pas sa déception. — He doesn't hide his disappointment.

Se cacher (to hide oneself) needs the reflexive pronoun — cacher alone means to hide something/someone else, so dropping it (*je cache dans le placard for 'I'm hiding in the closet') is a common error.

• expression Cache-cache — The classic children's game name, attested from the 18th century as a reduplication of cache-, the verb form of cacher — the standard, universally recognized French term for the game of hide and seek.