CAUL • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Caul

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/kɑl/ /kɔl/ Listen

noun

Caul n.

A covering of network for the head, worn by women; also, a net.

(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."

A part of the amnion, one of the membranes enveloping the fetus, which sometimes is round the head of a child at its birth; called also a veil. "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." "I was born with a caul, which was advertised for sale, in the newspapers, at the low price of fifteen guineas."

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Etymology of 'Caul'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Caul" Quotes from Famous Books

... brazen urn Enshrined the bones, upgathered in a caul, And bearing round pure water, thrice in turn From olive branch the lustral dew lets fall, And, sprinkling, speaks the latest words of all. A lofty mound AEneas hastes to frame, Crowned with his oar and trumpet, 'neath a tall And ...

— The Aeneid of Virgil - Translated into English Verse by E. Fairfax Taylor • Virgil

... their younger sisters for doing what they perhaps have done—lifting a veil to be seen, and peeping at a world where innocence is as poor a guarantee as a babe's caul against shipwreck. Women of the world never think of attacking the sensual stipulation for perfect bloom, silver purity, which is redolent of the Oriental origin of the love-passion of their lords. Mrs. Mountstuart congratulated Sir Willoughby on the prize ...

— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... As this humour still grew upon him he chose to wear a turban instead of a periwig; concluding very justly that a bandage of clean linen about his head was much more wholesome, as well as cleanly, than the caul of a wig, which is soiled with frequent ...

— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 2 • Boswell, Edited by Birkbeck Hill

... caul, which was advertised for sale, in the newspapers, at the low price of fifteen guineas. Whether sea-going people were short of money about that time, or were short of faith and preferred cork jackets, ...

— David Copperfield • Charles Dickens

... in my judgment the Italian dress, which answer I found pleased her well, for she delighted to shew her golden coloured hair, wearing a caul and bonnet as they do in Italy. Her hair was more reddish than yellow, curled ...

— The English Novel in the Time of Shakespeare • J. J. Jusserand

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