veils

Noun

veil (plural veils)

1. Something hung up or spread out to hide or protect the face, or hide an object from view; usually of gauze, crepe, or similar diaphanous material.
   • The veil of the temple was rent in twain.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 27:51
2. (figuratively) Anything that partially obscures a clear view.
   • Above the smoky veil over the town rose Akerhus fort, with its towers standing out in sharp relief against the mirror of the fjord, beyond where the Nœs point loomed as a black shadow.1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 160
3. A cover; disguise; a mask; a pretense.
   • [I will] pluck the borrowed veil of modesty from the so seeming Mistress Page.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
4. A covering for a person or thing; as, a caul (especially over the head)
   • a nun's veil
5. The calyptra of mosses.
6. velum (A circular membrane round the cap of a medusa).

See all 12 meanings of veil