From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Vail \Vail\, n. [Aphetic form of avail, n.]
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1. Avails; profit; return; proceeds. [Obs.]
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My house is as 'twere the cave where the young
outlaw hoards the stolen vails of his occupation.
--Chapman.
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2. An unexpected gain or acquisition; a casual advantage or
benefit; a windfall. [Obs.]
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3. Money given to servants by visitors; a gratuity; --
usually in the plural. [Written also vale.] --Dryden.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Vail \Vail\, v. t. [Aphetic form of avale. See Avale, Vale.]
[Written also vale, and veil.]
1. To let fall; to allow or cause to sink. [Obs.]
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Vail your regard
Upon a wronged, I would fain have said, a maid!
--Shak.
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2. To lower, or take off, in token of inferiority, reverence,
submission, or the like.
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France must vail her lofty-plumed crest! --Shak.
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Without vailing his bonnet or testifying any
reverence for the alleged sanctity of the relic.
--Sir. W.
Scott.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Vail \Vail\ (v[=a]l), v. i.
To yield or recede; to give place; to show respect by
yielding, uncovering, or the like. [Written also vale, and
veil.] [Obs.]
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Thy convenience must vail to thy neighbor's necessity.
--South.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Vale \Vale\ (v[=a]l), n. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps
akin to Gr. 'e`los low ground, marsh meadow. Cf. Avalanche,
Vail to lower, Valley.]
A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. "
Make me a cottage in the vale." --Tennyson.
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Beyond this vale of tears there is a life above.
--Montgomery.
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In those fair vales, by nature formed to please.
--Harte.
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Note: Vale is more commonly used in poetry, and valley in
prose and common discourse.
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Syn: Valley; dingle; dell; dale.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Vale \Vale\, n.
See 2d Vail, 3.
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