English▸ noun a length of decorative drapery attached to the canopy or frame of a bed in order to screen the structure or the space beneath it.
▪ a dust ruffle.
▪ mainly North American a length of decorative drapery hung above a window to screen the curtain fittings.
– ORIGIN late Middle English : perhaps Anglo-Norman French, from a shortened form of Old French avaler ‘descend’ (see vail).