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veil |
5 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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}.] 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. The veil of the temple was rent in twain. --Matt. xxvii. 51. She as a veil down to the slender waist, Her unadorn['e]d golden tresses wore. --Milton. 2. A cover; disguise; a mask; a pretense. [I will] pluck the borrowed veil of modesty from the so seeming Mistress Page. --Shak. 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}. 4. (Eccl.) A covering for a person or thing as a nun's veil; a paten veil; an altar veil. 5. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Velum}, 3. {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. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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}.] 1. To throw a veil over to cover with a veil. Her face was veiled; yet to my fancied sight, Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined. --Milton. 2. Fig.: To invest; to cover; to hide; to conceal. To keep your great pretenses veiled. --Shak. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Vail \Vail\, v. t. [Aphetic form of avale. See {Avale}, {Vale}.] [Written also {vale}, and {veil}.] 1. To let fail to allow or cause to sink. [Obs.] Vail your regard Upon a wronged, I would fain have said a maid! --Shak. 2. To lower, or take off in token of inferiority, reverence, submission, or the like France must vail her lofty-plumed crest! --Shak. Without vailing his bonnet or testifying any reverence for the alleged sanctity of the relic. --Sir. W. Scott. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Vail \Vail\, v. i. To yield or recede; to give place to show respect by yielding, uncovering, or the like [Written also {vale}, and {veil}.] [Obs.] Thy convenience must vail to thy neighbor's necessity. --South. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: veil n 1: a garment that covers the head and face [syn: {head covering}] 2: the inner embryonic membrane of higher vertebrates (especially when covering the head at birth) [syn: {caul}, {fetal membrane}, {embryonic membrane}] 3: Roman Catholic Church; a silk shawl [syn: {humeral veil}] v : to obscure, or conceal with or as if with a veil; "a conspiracy of silence veiling it" [ant: {unveil}]
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