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Webster 1913 Edition


Caul

Caul

(ka̤l)
,
Noun.
[OE.
calle
,
kelle
, prob. fr. F.
cale
; cf. Ir.
calla
a veil.]
1.
A covering of network for the head, worn by women; also, a net.
Spenser.
2.
(Anat.)
The fold of membrane loaded with fat, which covers more or less of the intestines in mammals; the great omentum. See
Omentum
.
The
caul
serves for the warming of the lower belly.
Ray.
It is deemed lucky to be with a
caul
or membrane over the face. This
caul
is esteemed an infallible preservative against drowning . . . According to Chrysostom, the midwives frequently sold it for magic uses.
Grose.
I was born with a
caul
, which was advertised for sale, in the newspapers, at the low price of fifteen guineas.
Dickens.

Webster 1828 Edition


Caul

CAUL

,
Noun.
1.
In anatomy, a membrane in the abdomen, covering the greatest part of the lower intestines, called from its structure, reticuluim, a net, but more generally, the omentum; also, a little membrane sometimes encompassing the head of a child when born.
2.
A kind of net in which females inclose their hair; the hinder part of a cap.
3.
Any kind of net.

Definition 2024


caul

caul

English

Alternative forms

Noun

caul (plural cauls)

  1. (historical) A style of close-fitting circular cap worn by women in the sixteenth century and later, often made of linen. [from 14th c.]
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.vii:
      Ne spared they to strip her naked all. / Then when they had despoild her tire and call, / Such as she was, their eyes might her behold []
  2. (anatomy, obsolete except in specific senses) A membrane. [14th-17th c.]
  3. The thin membrane which covers the lower intestines; the omentum. [from 14th c.]
  4. The amnion which encloses the foetus before birth, especially that part of it which sometimes shrouds a baby’s head at birth (traditionally considered to be good luck). [from 16th c.]
    • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society (2012), page 182:
      Even in the mid seventeenth century a country gentleman might regard his caul as a treasure to be preserved with great care, and bequeathed to his descendants.
  5. The surface of a press that makes contact with panel product, especially a removable plate or sheet.
  6. (woodworking) A strip or block of wood used to distribute or direct clamping force.
  7. (cooking) Caul fat.

Translations

Anagrams


Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin caulis.

Noun

caul

  1. cabbage