the Berasit Hebrew Dictionary

כפר

'keper' appears to have several possible meanings, including “cover” or “lid” and “lion” - investigate this

Other spurious interpretations abound, including “frost”¹⁾, “bowl”²⁾, but the interpretation of “cover” fits easily into each of the contexts.

The “lion” meaning is pretty clear in many contextual clues pertaining to animals, particularly dangerous ones, and with its frequent association with another word which also means lion, ari. However, one must wonder whether the verb form of “cover” might also be applicable here. Might it refer to the predator watching carefully, waiting to pounce?