Reference > Brewer’s Dictionary > Vails.

 Vail (To).Vain as a Peacock. 
CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
 
Vails.
 
Blackmail in the shape of fees to servants. (From the Latin verb valeo, to be worth, to be of value; French, valoir.) The older form was avails.   1
       
“Vails to servants being much in fashion.”
       
Russell: Representative Actors.
 


 Vail (To).Vain as a Peacock. 

 
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