Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913
Vail
Vail (vāl), n. & v. t. Same as Veil.
Vail, n. [Aphetic form of avail, n.]
1. Avails; profit; return; proceeds. [Obs.]
My house is as were the cave where the young outlaw hoards the stolen vails of his occupation. Chapman.
2. An unexpected gain or acquisition; a casual advantage or benefit; a windfall. [Obs.]
3. Money given to servants by visitors; a gratuity; — usually in the plural. [Written also vale.] Dryden.
Vail, v. t. [Aphetic form of avale. See Avale, Vale.] [Written also vale, and veil.] 1. To let fail; to allow or cause to sink. [Obs.]
Vail your regard Upon a wronged, I would fain have said, a maid! Shak.
2. To lower, or take off, in token of inferiority, reverence, submission, or the like.
France must vail her lofty-plumed crest! Shak.
Without vailing his bonnet or testifying any reverence for the alleged sanctity of the relic. Sir. W. Scott.
Vail (vāl), v. i. To yield or recede; to give place; to show respect by yielding, uncovering, or the like. [Written also vale, and veil.] [Obs.]
Thy convenience must vail to thy neighbor's necessity. South.
Vail, n. Submission; decline; descent. [Obs.]