Definition of "valance" []

• An ornamental drapery hung across a top edge, as of a bed, table, or canopy. (noun)
• A short drapery, decorative board, or metal strip mounted especially across the top of a window to conceal structural fixtures. (noun)
• To supply with valances or a valance. (verb-transitive)

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.

• "The 6-inch ruffle on Lillibeth's dress, was a cotton eyelet curtain valance we had kept in a drawer with laces because we had no use for it but thought it might be useful for some stitchery item some day."
• "Morningside Analytics 'John Kelly, details Sanchez, has developed 3D modelings that shine light on everything from "term valance" -- that is, the semantics employed by different clusters of online conversations to talk about everything from "home schooling" to "preemptive war" -- to topics that bookmarking reveals to be of deep interest in some sectors but spark little visible online feedback."
• "Eat Pray Love valance and ponder the oft-asked question: Where does the word valance come from?"