noun

• 1A period of keeping awake during the time usually spent asleep, especially to keep watch or pray.

  ‘my birdwatching vigils lasted for hours’

  More example sentences

  • ‘as he lay in a coma the family kept vigil’
  • ‘But when I came and kept vigil in his armchair while he lay on his left ribs, his back rolled around him like an exoskeleton, all night I stared at his books neat in their shelves.’
  • ‘In the old days families kept vigil and ate little ‘Soul’ cakes.’
  • ‘For the next three days we kept vigil at his bed in the private clinic.’
  • ‘We kept vigil by his bedside for hours until for me three in the morning and for my mother four in the morning.’
  • ‘Some fans were seen weeping and praying for his fast recovery while others kept vigil in a nearby church.’
  • ‘If we could take a look now at those live pictures of St. Peter's Square, to an estimated 70,000 people have gathered to maintain a vigil and to pray for the pope.’
  • ‘Now parents will be able to take a break from their bedside vigil happy they can watch their child's every movement on a TV screen in a private room downstairs.’
  • ‘Now Lauren, from Worsley, and her partner, Ashley Easdale, are keeping a bedside vigil to watch his progress.’
  • ‘For two weeks, various members of the family kept vigil by his bedside in intensive care.’
  • ‘Since the executions were held very early in the mornings, we found that prisoners kept vigil through the night, staying awake with the woman who was to be executed.’
  • ‘Parents kept vigil, wrapped in blankets before fires at the site of the catastrophe amid the silence of those buried under the mountain of masonry.’
  • ‘Abandoned by their father, forsaken by neighbors, Bolas and the children kept vigil over their mother.’
  • ‘A loyal dog kept vigil for more than a week beside a woman who died in her Bolton home.’
  • ‘It might have been her outpouring of love and grief, it might have been her courage in driving away the wild animals, the length of her lonely vigil on the mountain, or a combination of these.’
  • ‘The press was informed and, as older people will remember, it seemed that the whole world gathered in a vigil around his deathbed.’
  • ‘Two nights before she died, there was an all-night vigil at her bedside.’
  • ‘They have welcomed the family into the church where parishioners and the vicar are keeping a round-the-clock vigil over them.’
  • ‘She was later transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London where her parents were this morning keeping a bedside vigil.’
  • ‘While she spent her evenings preparing, he maintained an intermittent vigil at the bedroom window, offering some grudging help between observing sessions.’

  Synonyms

  vigilance, vigil, watch, close watch, monitoring, policing, surveillance, sentry duty

  1. 1.1A stationary, peaceful demonstration in support of a particular cause, typically without speeches.
     ‘the group held a candlelight vigil outside the jail’
     More example sentences

     • ‘N.O.W. was planning to hold a candlelight vigil outside the jail where Yates is being held.’
     • ‘The local authorities' campaign headquarters plans to hold protest vigils outside the treasury every few days, each time representing two different municipalities.’
     • ‘On March 27, about 200 teachers and students from the Wellington and Hutt Valley regions staged a protest vigil outside parliament.’
     • ‘Across town the 74 year old archbishop had organised a vigil in support of those arrested, which saw loads of young and old people pack into the cathedral.’
     • ‘Over 300 people attended the vigil in support of the family, with about 150 joining a subsequent march on New Scotland Yard.’
     • ‘On that day there must be demonstrations and vigils around the country.’
     • ‘Look at how a few NGO groups last year used peaceful candlelight vigils for their own selfish purposes to galvanize public opinion.’
     • ‘On the eve of the ceremony hundreds of Rome's Jews and Catholics protested against the beatification in a candlelight vigil.’
     • ‘A number of rallies, vigils and demonstrations took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the smaller cities and towns in the surrounding tri-state area.’
     • ‘Last weekend's demonstrations follow rallies, vigils and meetings throughout the country.’
     • ‘Demonstrations and vigils began as soon as news of the hostages reached Japan.’
     • ‘The Boston Globe today had this article on the vigils supporting Sheehan and her cause.’
     • ‘Banner-waving supporters demonstrated and held prayer vigils on Hill's behalf.’
     • ‘Bird watchers have held nightly vigils in front of the property.’
     • ‘Please bring everyone you know to the vigil this Monday evening at Aotea Square at 6pm.’
     • ‘According to Janna Bowman of Witness for Peace, the vigils calling for an investigation are making an impact.’
     • ‘I've joined in many peace vigils, rallies, and marches the past several months, and pardon me if this seems shallow, but where are the tunes?’
     • ‘A number of Church of England dioceses have organised peace vigils to coincide with the demonstration.’
     • ‘MoMA's third floor was the unwilling host to occasional antiwar vigils.’
     • ‘After the lecture he left central hall passing some protestors holding a silent vigil about Zimbabwe.’
     • ‘Several shoppers and passers-by paused to observe the vigil.’

• 2(in the Christian Church) the eve of a festival or holy day as an occasion of religious observance.

  ‘The Christmas pageant involving the children from Culleens and Kilglass N.S. will take place during the Gospel at the Christmas night vigil Mass in Kilglass Church.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘It is at pains to point out that much of the ceremony took place during the Christmas vigil and on the feast of the Nativity.’
  • ‘The vigil Mass for Christmas will take place in Rathdowney Church on Christmas Eve at 9pm.’
  • ‘Holy Saturday saw a packed Church for the Easter vigil and the first Mass of Easter was celebrated at 9pm.’
  • ‘The time for the vigil mass in Kilglass Church on Saturday evenings has now been changed from 9pm to 7pm for the winter months.’
  • ‘The vigil Mass in Kilglass Church on next Saturday evening at 9 p.m. will be a special Mass for those who are doing exams.’
  • ‘Neither the Christmas vigil nor the Christmas day service provoked any great amount of tension in either party.’
  • ‘The vigil Mass on Christmas was 9 pm and a large congregation was present.’
  • ‘Take her to an Easter vigil or to an Eastern Orthodox Easter midnight service: dramatic-and she gets to stay up late.’
  • ‘His travels were circular, he and his companions returning each year to celebrate the Easter vigil on the back of an enormous fish, Jasconius.’
  • ‘On Holy Saturday they visit Jasconius the whale to keep the Easter vigil, and sing the first mass of Easter on his back.’
  • ‘The Easter Offering for the support of the priests of the parish will be taken up at the Easter vigil and Easter Sunday morning.’
  • ‘The Senior Traditional Group will perform at the vigil Mass on the third Saturday of every month.’

  Synonyms

  burial, burying, interment, entombment, committal, inhumation, laying to rest, consignment to the grave

  1. 2.1vigilsNocturnal devotions.
     More example sentences

     • ‘Cowled figures slip quietly from the monastic enclosure into the abbey church for vigils and lauds, an almost two-hour service that establishes the quiet and contemplative atmosphere of the abbey and the order.’