(a) A small, portable container, esp. one for storage or serving of food or drink; a flask, pitcher, jug, cup, dish, pot, etc.; a piece of household tableware, a kitchen utensil, etc.; also, an ornamental or a functional container, an urn, a vase, etc.; coll. household vessels, tableware, plate, kitchenware; also fig. and in fig. contexts; (b) in cpds., combs., and misc. phrases: ~ clothes, ?coverings for vessels; ~ garnish (garnished), garnish (garnished) ~, coll. decorated vessels; also, vessels arranged in a set, usu. of twelve pieces; cukking (pissinge, shitinge) ~, a chamber pot; erthe ~; erthen vesseles glased, glazed ceramic vessels, glazed pottery; garnish of ~, a set of (usu. twelve) vessels, a service of dishes; milk ~, a churn; oile (water, wine) ~; peutre ~ [see also peutre n. 2.(b)]; washinge ~, q.v.; (c) a container suitable for medical assay, pharmacological preparation, storage of medicinal preparations, etc.; a vial, beaker, pot, etc.; close ~, a covered vessel or pot; (d) a liturgical container, chalice, censer, reliquary, etc.; also, any container, utensil, or precious object used in a religious service or kept as part of the furnishings of a church, temple, etc.;—also coll.; also fig.; cens ~, a censer; (e) a container specifically for heating liquids or substances, cooking, preparing decoctions, etc.; a pot, pan, kettle, cauldron, etc.;—also coll.; alch. a retort, condenser, crucible, or similar vessel; ~ of circulacioun, a distillation apparatus, still; ~ of thre fet, ?a pot, pan, or kettle supported on three legs, a spider; bras ~; breuing ~, a vessel used in brewing [see also breuing ger.(1) (b)]; double ~, ?a double boiler; (f) a large container for storage, transport, etc. of goods, a substance, etc.; a vat, cask, tub, bushel, etc. [some quots. difficult to distinguish from (a)]; pl. baggage, luggage; vesseles of transmigracioun, the accouterments of exile or of a refugee; (g) the Holy Grail; holi ~; (h) in proverbs and prov. expressions.

Fig. (a) A person, regarded as the recipient, bearer, or agent of some abstract quality, the object of some divine action, etc.; (b) the body, sometimes regarded as the receptacle of the soul; (c) used of the blood, regarded as the receptacle of the soul; (d) used of the heart, regarded as the seat of contemplation and emotion; (e) the womb, regarded as a receptacle; (f) used of hell, regarded as a container of souls.

Anat. & physiol. (a) A vein or an artery, a blood vessel;—also coll.; vesseles of the sperme, spermatike vessel(es, testicular or ovarian veins; (b) a duct;—also coll.; vesseles of (the) sperme, spermatike vessel(es, the epididymis, the deferent duct (L vas deferens) and the ejaculatory duct, regarded as a single structure; also, the uterine (Fallopian) tubes; (c) used of the intestines;—also coll.; (d) the vulva; ?also, the vagina; (e) any hollow organ or bodily concavity, such as the bronchi, lungs, thorax, etc.

A ship or other large watercraft, a cargo vessel, passenger vessel, or warship; also, a boat or other small craft;—also coll.; vesseles of avauntage, ?superior or more heavily armed ships; ?faster ships; hed ~, coll. warships of the largest size or of first quality, capital ships.

Chiefly Bibl., usu. translating L vas: an instrument, implement, or a device of some sort; an artifact, article of some material, a thing of some kind; an object or instrument by means of which a specified action is performed or carried out; also fig.; also, a ship’s gear [quot. c1425]; ~ of ded (sleinge), an instrument of death, a weapon; ~ of song, a musical instrument; ~ of tentes, ?an array of hosts.

In surname.