Definition of "vail" in English

noun

1. (obsolete) Profit; return; proceeds.

2. (chiefly in the plural, obsolete) Money given to servants by visitors; a gratuity; also vale.

noun

1. (obsolete) Submission.

verb

1. (transitive, obsolete) To lower, let fall; to allow or cause to sink.

   • Then let them vale a bonet of their proud ſayle,

2. (transitive, vexillology) To lower or “dip” a carried flag or banner in a salute by a forward reducing of the angle of the pike/flagstaff with respect to the ground; in extreme instances, as when saluting a monarch, both the banner and the finial of the pike are allowed to rest upon the ground.

3. (intransitive, obsolete, nautical) To lower a sail, in salute or otherwise.

4. (transitive, obsolete) To remove as a sign of deference, as a hat.

5. (intransitive, obsolete) To pay homage, bow, submit, defer (to someone or something); to yield, give way (to something).

   • 1692, Robert South, Discourses on Various Subjects and Occasions, Boston: Bowles & Dearborn, 1827, Discourse 5, p. 370, Thy convenience must vail to thy neighbour’s necessity.

noun

1. Archaic form of veil.

2. Misspelling of veil.

verb

1. Archaic form of veil.

2. Misspelling of veil.