from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
noun A marriage ceremony; a wedding.
adjective Of or relating to a bride or a marriage ceremony; nuptial.
adjective Designed for a bride or a newly married couple.
from The Century Dictionary.
noun A feast at a marriage; a wedding-feast.
noun A marriage; nuptials.
Belonging to a bride or to a wedding: as, a bridal wreath.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
noun A nuptial festival or ceremony; a marriage.
adjective Of or pertaining to a bride, or to wedding; nuptial.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
adjective Of or pertaining to a bride, or to wedding; nuptial; as, bridal ornaments; a bridal outfit; a bridal chamber.
noun A wedding.
noun archaic A wedding feast.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
adjective of or pertaining to a bride
adjective of or relating to a wedding
noun archaic terms for a wedding or wedding feast
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Middle English bridale, wedding, wedding feast, from Old English brȳdealo : brȳd, bride; see bride + ealu, ale; see ale.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
bef. 1100; ME bridale wedding feast, OE brȳdealu, equiv. to brȳd bride + ealu ale, i.e., ale-drinking; now taken as bride + -al
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Examples
The old du Lac aunts at Rhinebeck had put their house at the disposal of the bridal couple, with a readiness inspired by the prospect of spending a week in New York with Mrs. Archer; and Archer, glad to escape the usual bridal suite in a Philadelphia or Baltimore hotel, had accepted with an equal alacrity.
I could recover myself into any composure for thinking, the maid came in with her mistress's service, and a small silver orringer of what she called a bridal posset, and desired me to eat it as I went to bed, which consequently I did, and felt immediately a heat, a fire run like a hue-and-cry through every part of my body; I burnt, I glowed, and wanted even little of wishing for any man.
It appeared that there was a disproportionate number of straight girls (often in bridal parties) bringing in uncomfortable boyfriends who didn't always get along well with the gay clientele.
One sees all the fruit-trees clad in bridal garments of pink and white; and what a translucent sky smiles down on the ponds and the reaches of bay and cove!
But she stood, dressed in bridal wreath and crown, and took him by the hand and led him into the drawing-room, where the guests were assembled and all was in readiness for the ceremony.
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