Library / English Dictionary

VEIL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A garment that covers the head and face

Synonyms:

head covering; veil

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("veil" is a kind of...):

garment (an article of clothing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "veil"):

chadar; chaddar; chador; chuddar (a cloth used as a head covering (and veil and shawl) by Muslim and Hindu women)

face veil (a piece of more-or-less transparent material that covers the face)

yashmac; yashmak (the face veil worn by Muslim women)

Derivation:

veil (to obscure, or conceal with or as if with a veil)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A vestment worn by a priest at High Mass in the Roman Catholic Church; a silk shawl

Synonyms:

humeral veil; veil

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("veil" is a kind of...):

vestment (gown (especially ceremonial garments) worn by the clergy)

Derivation:

veil (to obscure, or conceal with or as if with a veil)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The inner membrane of embryos in higher vertebrates (especially when covering the head at birth)

Synonyms:

caul; embryonic membrane; veil

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("veil" is a kind of...):

fetal membrane (any membrane that functions for the protection or nourishment or respiration or excretion of a developing fetus)

Holonyms ("veil" is a part of...):

placenta (the vascular structure in the uterus of most mammals providing oxygen and nutrients for and transferring wastes from the developing fetus)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A membranous covering attached to the immature fruiting body of certain mushrooms

Synonyms:

veil; velum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("veil" is a kind of...):

plant part; plant structure (any part of a plant or fungus)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "veil"):

universal veil (membrane initially completely investing the young sporophore of various mushrooms that is ruptured by growth; represented in the mature mushroom by a volva around lower part of stem and scales on upper surface of the cap)

partial veil (membrane of the young sporophore of various mushrooms extending from the margin of the cap to the stem and is ruptured by growth; represented in mature mushroom by an annulus around the stem and sometimes a cortina on the margin of the cap)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing

Example:

a veiled threat

Synonyms:

blot out; hide; obliterate; obscure; veil

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "veil" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Verb group:

efface; obliterate (remove completely from recognition or memory)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "veil"):

mystify (make mysterious)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

To obscure, or conceal with or as if with a veil

Example:

women in Afghanistan veil their faces

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "veil" is one way to...):

conceal; hide (prevent from being seen or discovered)

"Veil" entails doing...:

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Antonym:

unveil (remove the veil from)

Derivation:

veil (a garment that covers the head and face)

veil (a vestment worn by a priest at High Mass in the Roman Catholic Church; a silk shawl)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Wainwright—the hunter whom Wolf Larsen had stolen with boat and men—took advantage of the veiled sea and escaped.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Ever since then I have taken care not to take off my hat or veil, and so have escaped their suspicions.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“Very little white satin, very few lace veils; a most pitiful business! Selina would stare when she heard of it.”

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The veil of self-indulgence was rent from head to foot.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

And yet behind this outer veiling of folly, with which they so carefully draped themselves, they were often men of strong character and robust personality.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Pressing the veil to his lips, he thrust it into the bosom of his tunic, and rushed as fast as feet could bear him to arm himself and join the muster.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Neptune can set up a glamorous environment by putting a delicate veil over reality to make it look quite beautiful.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

"You see, I'm not just right. I'll take you home. We can go out by the servants' entrance. No one will see us. Pull down that veil and everything will be all right."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

They looked just the same: both well-dressed, with veils and parasols like other girls; but I afterwards found that I had been giving all my attention to the youngest, who was not out, and had most excessively offended the eldest.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

For years I have endeavoured to break through the veil which shrouded it, and at last the time came when I seized my thread and followed it, until it led me, after a thousand cunning windings, to ex-Professor Moriarty of mathematical celebrity.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)