to keep a vigil

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• vigil — n. 1) to hold a vigil; to keep (a) vigil 2) an all night vigil 3) a vigil over * * * [ vɪdʒɪl] to keep (a) vigil a vigil over an all night vigil to hold a vigil …   Combinatory dictionary

• vigil — noun (C, U) 1 a period of time, especially during the night, when you stay awake in order to pray or remain with someone who is ill: keep (a) vigil: For three weeks Jeff kept a vigil while his son lay in a coma. 2 a silent political protest in… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

• Vigil — Vig il, n. [OE. vigile, L. vigilia, from vigil awake, watchful, probably akin to E. wake: cf. F. vigile. See {Wake}, v. i., and cf. {Reveille}, {Surveillance}, {Vedette}, {Vegetable}, {Vigor}.] 1. Abstinence from sleep, whether at a time when… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• keep vigil — index patrol, police Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

• vigil — ► NOUN ▪ a period of staying awake during the time usually spent asleep, especially to keep watch or pray. ORIGIN from Latin, awake …   English terms dictionary

• vigil — noun 1 when you stay awake to care for sb, etc. ADJECTIVE ▪ 24 hour, all night, constant, round the clock (BrE) ▪ Since the accident, the boy s parents have kept a constant vigil at his bedside. ▪ bedside (esp. BrE …   Collocations dictionary

• vigil — [13] Etymologically, to take part in a vigil, you have to be ‘alert’ and ‘awake’. The word comes via Old French vigile from Latin vigilia, which was derived from the adjective vigil ‘awake, alert’, so the notion underlying it is of staying awake… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

• vigil — [13] Etymologically, to take part in a vigil, you have to be ‘alert’ and ‘awake’. The word comes via Old French vigile from Latin vigilia, which was derived from the adjective vigil ‘awake, alert’, so the notion underlying it is of staying awake… …   Word origins

• vigil — n. 1 a keeping awake during the time usually given to sleep, esp. to keep watch or pray (keep vigil). b a period of this. 2 Eccl. the eve of a festival or holy day. 3 (in pl.) nocturnal devotions. Etymology: ME f. OF vigile f. L vigilia f. vigil… …   Useful english dictionary

• keep — [[t]ki͟ːp[/t]] ♦ keeps, keeping, kept 1) V LINK ERG If someone keeps or is kept in a particular state, they remain in it. [V n adj/prep] The noise kept him awake... [V n adj/prep] Reggie was being kept busy behind the bar... [V adj/prep] To keep… …   English dictionary

• keep — [c]/kip / (say keep) verb (kept, keeping) –verb (t) 1. to maintain in one s action or conduct: to keep watch; to keep step; to keep silence. 2. to cause to continue in some place, position, state, course, or action specified: to keep a light… …