The AI-powered English dictionary
plural cauls
(historical) A style of close-fitting circular cap worn by women in the sixteenth century and later, often made of linen. quotations
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 […]
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie
(Britain, historical, often capitalized, used on maps) An entry to a mill lead taken from a burn or stream (a mill lead (or mill waterway) is generally smaller than a canal but moves a large volume of water).
(anatomy, obsolete except in specific senses) A membrane.
The thin membrane which covers the lower intestines; the omentum. examples
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). quotations examples
I was born with a caul, which was advertised for sale, in the newspapers, at the low price of fifteen guineas.
1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850
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.
1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 182
The surface of a press that makes contact with panel product, especially a removable plate or sheet. examples
(woodworking) A strip or block of wood used to distribute or direct clamping force. examples
(cooking) Caul fat. examples