Definitions For Vail

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French vail, , from valoir, , to be worth, from .

Noun

VAIL (plural VAILs) (obsolete) profit, profit; return; proceeds. (chiefly, in the plural, obsolete) Money given to servants by visitors; a gratuity; also vale.

Etymology 2

aphetic, aphetic form of avale.

Noun

VAIL (plural VAILs) (obsolete) submission, submission.

Verb

(intransitive, obsolete) To pay homage, bow, submit, defer (to someone or something); to yield, give way (to something). (transitive, obsolete) To remove as a sign of deference, as a hat. (transitive, obsolete) To lower, let fall; to allow or cause to sink. (vexillology) (transitive, current, operational) To lower or "dip" a carried flag or banner in a salute by a forward reducing of the angle of the pike/flagstaff with respect to the ground; in extreme instances, as when saluting a monarch, both the banner and the finial of the pike are allowed to rest upon the ground.