veil

Noun · Verb
Synonyms: head coveringvelumcaulembryonic membranehumeral veilobscureblot outobliteratehide

WordNet 3.0

Noun (4)

  1. a garment that covers the head and faceSynonyms: head covering
  2. a membranous covering attached to the immature fruiting body of certain mushroomsSynonyms: velum
  3. the inner membrane of embryos in higher vertebrates (especially when covering the head at birth)Synonyms: caulembryonic membrane
  4. a vestment worn by a priest at High Mass in the Roman Catholic Church; a silk shawlSynonyms: humeral veil

Verb (2)

  1. to obscure, or conceal with or as if with a veil“women in Afghanistan veil their faces”
  2. make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing“a hidden message”“a veiled threat”Synonyms: obscureblot outobliteratehide
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Vail \Vail\, v. t. [Aphetic form of avale. See Avale, Vale.] [Written also vale, and veil.]

1.To let fall; to allow or cause to sink. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

Vail your regard Upon a wronged, I would fain have said, a maid!— Shak.[1913 Webster]

2.To lower, or take off, in token of inferiority, reverence, submission, or the like. [1913 Webster]

France must vail her lofty-plumed crest!— Shak.[1913 Webster]
Without vailing his bonnet or testifying any reverence for the alleged sanctity of the relic.— Sir. W. Scott.[1913 Webster]
Vail \Vail\ (v[=a]l), v. i. To yield or recede; to give place; to show respect by yielding, uncovering, or the like. [Written also vale, and veil.] [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

Thy convenience must vail to thy neighbor's necessity. --South. [1913 Webster]

Veil \Veil\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Veiled; p. pr. & vb. n. Veiling.] [Cf. OF. veler, F. voiler, L. velarc. See Veil, n.] [Written also vail.] [1913 Webster]

1.To throw a veil over; to cover with a veil. [1913 Webster]

Her face was veiled; yet to my fancied sight, Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined.— Milton.[1913 Webster]

2.Fig.: To invest; to cover; to hide; to conceal. [1913 Webster]

To keep your great pretenses veiled.— Shak.[1913 Webster]
Veil \Veil\ (v[=a]l), n. [OE. veile, OF. veile, F. voile, L. velum a sail, covering, curtain, veil, probably fr. vehere to bear, carry, and thus originally, that which bears the ship on. See Vehicle, and cf. Reveal.] [Written also vail.] [1913 Webster]

1.Something hung up, or spread out, to intercept the view, and hide an object; a cover; a curtain; esp., a screen, usually of gauze, crape, or similar diaphnous material, to hide or protect the face. [1913 Webster]

The veil of the temple was rent in twain.— Matt. xxvii. 51.[1913 Webster]
She, as a veil down to the slender waist, Her unadorn['e]d golden tresses wore.— Milton.[1913 Webster]

2.A cover; a disguise; a mask; a pretense. [1913 Webster]

[I will] pluck the borrowed veil of modesty from the so seeming Mistress Page.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

3.(Bot.) (a) The calyptra of mosses. (b) A membrane connecting the margin of the pileus of a mushroom with the stalk; -- called also velum. [1913 Webster]

4.(Eccl.) A covering for a person or thing; as, a nun's veil; a paten veil; an altar veil. [1913 Webster]

5.(Zool.) Same as Velum, 3. [1913 Webster]

To take the veil (Eccl.), to receive or be covered with, a veil, as a nun, in token of retirement from the world; to become a nun. [1913 Webster]

Caul \Caul\ (k[add]l), n. [OE. calle, kelle, prob. fr. F. cale; cf. Ir. calla a veil.]

1.A covering of network for the head, worn by women; also, a net. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]

2.(Anat.) The fold of membrane loaded with fat, which covers more or less of the intestines in mammals; the great omentum. See Omentum. [1913 Webster]

The caul serves for the warming of the lower belly.— Ray.[1913 Webster]

3.A part of the amnion, one of the membranes enveloping the fetus, which sometimes is round the head of a child at its birth; -- called also a veil. [1913 Webster +PJC]

It is deemed lucky to be with a caul or membrane over the face. This caul is esteemed an infallible preservative against drowning . . . According to Chrysostom, the midwives frequently sold it for magic uses.— Grose.[1913 Webster]
I was born with a caul, which was advertised for sale, in the newspapers, at the low price of fifteen guineas.— Dickens.[1913 Webster]
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