Cover
a.k.a. Short covering
To close a short position by buying back what you sold.
In plain English
To close a short position by buying back what you sold.
If you sold short, you must eventually buy back to close. That buy is called covering. When lots of shorts cover at once, all that buying can push price up sharply, sometimes in a short squeeze.
Dealers also use 'cover' for offsetting a client's trade in the market so they are not left holding the risk.
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