unveil

• unvail (obsolete)

From Middle English *unveilen (suggested by past participle unveiled, vnueylyd (“unveiled”)). Equivalent to un- +‎ veil.

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈveɪl/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• Rhymes: -eɪl

unveil (third-person singular simple present unveils, present participle unveiling, simple past and past participle unveiled)

1. (transitive) To remove a veil from; to uncover; to reveal something hidden.

   Synonyms: expose, uncloak; see also Thesaurus:reveal

   • 1996, Status of women in Islam, Status of women in Islam, page 91:

     The Schools of Jurisprudence of Abu Hanifa, Al-Shafaii and Malik agree that the woman is permitted to unveil her face and hands in the streets in front of the strangers. However, if this display of the face does rouse temptation and charm, the woman has to veil her face as she does the rest of her body.

   • 1836, James Cook, The Three voyages of Captain Cook round the world, page 356:

     A sort of curtain, made of- mat, usually hung before them, which the natives were sometimes unwilling to remove ; and when they did consent to unveil them, they seemed to express themselves in a very mysterious manner.

   • 1831, Thomas Dick, The works of Thomas Dick, page 102:

     Since, therefore, the science of natural philosophy is conversant about the works of the Almighty, and its investigations have a direct tendency to illustrate the perfections of his nature, to unveil the plan of his operations, to unfold the laws by which he governs the kingdom of universal nature, and to display the order, symmetry, and proportion, which reign throughout the whole.

2. (transitive) to show, especially for the first time

   The car company are going to unveil the new sports car model next month.

   • 2022 January 12, “Network News: Wait goes on for South Western Railway Arterios to start work”, in RAIL, number 948, page 9:

     In summer 2020, the trains were unveiled at Wimbledon depot, and given the name Arterio. The operator said this symbolised its role as an artery for connecting the capital and beyond.

3. (intransitive) To remove a veil; to reveal oneself.

• unlive