Meaning of 'vail'

Same as Veil.

Avails; profit; return; proceeds. [Obs.] My house is as were the cave where the young outlaw hoards the stolen vails of his occupation. Chapman.

An unexpected gain or acquisition; a casual advantage or benefit; a windfall. [Obs.]

Money given to servants by visitors; a gratuity; -- usually in the plural. [Written also vale.] Dryden.

To let fail; to allow or cause to sink. [Obs.] Vail your regard Upon a wronged, I would fain have said, a maid! Shak.

To lower, or take off, in token of inferiority, reverence, submission, or the like. France must vail her lofty-plumed crest! Shak. Without vailing his bonnet or testifying any reverence for the alleged sanctity of the relic. Sir. W. Scott. To yield or recede; to give place; to show respect by yielding, uncovering, or the like. [Written also vale, and veil.] [Obs.] Thy convenience must vail to thy neighbor's necessity. South. Submission; decline; descent. [Obs.]