VEIL | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of veil in English

veil
noun
us
/veɪl/ uk
/veɪl/

veil noun (COVERING FACE)

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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.
 
Jodie Griggs/The Image Ban/GettyImages
 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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Hats & scarves
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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 something 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?
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Coverings and layers
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veil
verb
us
/veɪl/ uk
/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.
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
to put something over someone or something
  • coverI covered her with a blanket to keep her warm.
  • spreadI spread peanut butter on my bread.
  • smother something in/with somethingThe chicken was absolutely smothered in butter sauce.
  • coatCoat the cherries in chocolate.
  • plasterHis laptop cover was completely plastered with stickers.
  • cakeHis shoes were caked in mud.
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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Covering and adding layers
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veil verb (HIDE)

[ T ]
to hide or cover something so that you cannot see it clearly or understand it:
Thick fog veiled the city.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Hiding and disguising
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(Definition of veil from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

veil | Intermediate English

veil
noun [ C ]
us
/veɪl/
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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)

Examples of veil

veil
Prior to 1947, veiled women came in palanquins to attend classes.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Prudential deliberators behind the veil of ignorance will realize that the resources necessary to protect their age-relative opportunity range differ at various stages of life.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The veil of prudery and so-called good taste must be torn aside from this subject.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
This, in my view, leaves the mechanisms of historical change in the fields of archaeology partly veiled.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
These involve critiques of middle-class claims to disinterested universalism of values for veiling class interest and deflecting attention away from class conflict.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The wives thought that because the man was blind there was no need to veil.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
We must, then, look through this veil at the larger backdrop against which immigration policy, medical or otherwise, plays out.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
I remember your dance and the veil of mist and fog which merged with the clouds above.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Behind the veil of ignorance, would not we all agree to limited, humane preemptive strikes for the safety of all?
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Then, each representative would perform the thought experiment suggested by the veil-of-ignorance strategy.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
So the veil of ignorance must block knowledge of their temporal positions from the parties as well.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
But one does not have that knowledge behind the veil of ignorance.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
This is quite a different approach to justice than postulating a veil of ignorance.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
If so, then postulating a veil of ignorance is a quite different move from postulating impartiality.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The veil of ignorance is a useful theoretical tool because bias toward oneself can potentially subvert understanding of social justice.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
See all examples of veil
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
What is the pronunciation of veil?
 
C1,C2

Translations of veil

in Chinese (Traditional)
材料, 面紗, 面罩…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
材料, 面纱, 面罩…
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in Spanish
velo, velo [masculine, singular]…
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in Portuguese
véu, véu [masculine]…
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in more languages
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Arabic
in Czech
in Danish
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
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in Ukrainian
in Italian
in Russian
ベール…
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peçe, duvak, tül…
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voile [masculine], voile, voiler…
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vel…
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sluier, versluieren…
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حِجاب…
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závoj, zahalit závojem…
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slør, tilsløre…
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cadar, memakai cadar…
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ผ้าคลุมหน้า หรือศีรษะ, คลุมหน้า หรือศีรษะด้วยผ้า…
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mạng che mặt, khăn trùm đầu, che mạng…
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welon, woalka, woal(ka)…
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vel, tudung, purdah…
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der Schleier, (sich) verschleiern…
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slør [neuter], slør, tilsløre…
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면사포, 베일…
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покривало, вуаль, закривати покривалом…
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velo, velare, (coprire con un velo)…
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вуаль…
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