• Caul

    Pronunciation

    • UK IPA: /kɔːl/

    Alternative forms

    Origin

    From Middle French cale.

    Full definition of caul

    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. (culinary) Caul fat.
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