Definition of “veil” - English Dictionary

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“veil” in English

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veilnoun

uk ​ /veɪl/ us ​ /veɪl/

veil noun (COVERING FACE)

C1 [ C ] a piece of thin material worn by women to cover the face or head:

After the ceremony, the bride lifted up her veil to kiss her husband.
The women wore black veils that covered all but their eyes.
take the veil

› A Christian woman who takes the veil becomes a nun.

take/adopt the veil

› A Muslim woman who takes or adopts the veil decides to wear traditional Muslim clothing.

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veil noun (HIDING SOMETHING)

› [ S ] literary a thin covering that hides something or stops you from seeing something clearly:

The view over the lake was obscured by a veil of mist that hung in the air.

C2 [ S ] literary something that prevents you from knowing what is happening:

We want to lift the veil of secrecy that surrounds government decisions.
draw a veil over sth literary

› to not talk any more about a subject because it could cause trouble or embarrassment:

I think we should draw a veil over everything that happened at the party, don't you?

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veilverb

uk ​ /veɪl/ us ​ /veɪl/

veil verb (COVER FACE)

› [ T often passive ] to cover something, especially the face or body, with a veil:

In some societies, women are expected to be veiled when they go out in public.

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(Definition of “veil” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

“veil” in American English

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veilnoun [ C ]

us ​ /veɪl/

› a piece of thin material worn to protect or hide the face or head:

The bride wore a veil made of French lace.
fig. A veil of secrecy surrounded the appointment of the new college president.
veil
verb [ T ] us ​ /veɪl/

›

In that country, women are veiled when they go out in public.

(Definition of “veil” from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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