/ · 1894 Brewer’s · V · Vails
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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.
“Vails to servants being much in fashion.”
Russell: Representative Actors.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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