(a) A fabric headdress, usually covering the forehead and the sides and back of the head and hanging down to the shoulders or below;—worn chiefly by women; also, a cloth worn to conceal the face or head; also fig.; holi ~ (of veronica, the veil of St. Veronica, supposed to be miraculously imprinted with the image of Jesus’ face; (b) the veil as worn by nuns and female religious, considered symbolic of fidelity to Christ and in some instances conferred by a bishop in a solemn ritual of consecration; taken the ~, to become a nun.

(a) A cloth used to cover or conceal something or as a decoration; a hanging; also, a section of fabric as a component of a curtain; also fig.; (b) a liturgical veil used to conceal the altar or to cover the crucifix, statuary, etc., esp. during Lent; ~ rop, ?a rope for the Lenten veil; (c) the curtain concealing the Holy of Holies and separating it from the other parts of the Hebrew temple, which according to Matt.27.51 was torn and parted at the moment of Christ’s death; ~ of the temple, temple ~; (d) pathol. a morbid web or film caused by swollen veins on the surface of the eye.

A ship’s sail.