'VEIL' definitions:

Definition of 'veil'

(from WordNet)
noun
A garment that covers the head and face [syn: head covering, veil]
noun
A membranous covering attached to the immature fruiting body of certain mushrooms [syn: veil, velum]
noun
The inner membrane of embryos in higher vertebrates (especially when covering the head at birth) [syn: caul, veil, embryonic membrane]
noun
A vestment worn by a priest at High Mass in the Roman Catholic Church; a silk shawl [syn: humeral veil, veil]
verb
To obscure, or conceal with or as if with a veil; "women in Afghanistan veil their faces" [ant: unveil]
verb
Make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing; "a hidden message"; "a veiled threat" [syn: obscure, blot out, obliterate, veil, hide]

Definition of 'Veil'

From: GCIDE
  • 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]

Definition of 'Veil'

From: GCIDE
  • 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]

Definition of 'veil'

From: 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]

Definition of 'veil'

From: GCIDE
  • 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]

Definition of 'veil'

From: GCIDE
  • 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]

Synonyms of 'veil'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Acronyms for 'veil'

From: V.E.R.A.
  • Video Encoded Invisible Light Technology (VEIL)