Definition of "dossal" []

• An ornamental hanging of rich fabric, as behind an altar. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""Constantine Fighting the Lion" from a twelve-piece set, plus baldachin with dossal, of the Story of Constantine Design and cartoon by Pietro da Cortona, ca. 1636"
• "Leaning heavily upon the lady, at the end he won to her maiden's chamber, where there was a fair bed covered with a rich dossal of broidered silk, edged with fur."
• "And the Earl's old hawk, with its feathers all stiff and sparse, perched on the dossal of the Earl's chair and the floor was pranked with rushes and sweet herbs -- the first of the spring; and"