vigil
/ˈvɪd͡ʒəl/ noun C1- An instance of keeping awake during normal sleeping hours, especially to keep watch or pray.
- A period of observation or surveillance at any hour. · His dog kept vigil outside the hospital for eight days while he was recovering from an accident.
- The eve of a religious festival in which staying awake is part of the ritual devotions.
- A quiet demonstration in support of a cause. · The protesters kept vigil outside the conference centre in which the party congress was being held.
Plural vigils
From the library
But she went away kindly, leaving Anne alone to keep her first vigil with sorrow.
“The night was fine, but still it was a very weary vigil.
It proved, however, that our vigil was not to be so long as Holmes had led us to fear, and it ended in a very sudden and singular fashion.
The village sergeant, a tall, formal, melancholy man, still held his vigil in the room of Fate.
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