1. A piece of mail or armor that hangs from a helmet to protect the neck and shoulders.
Usage: historical; plural form of aventail

Examples

• Medieval knights wore aventails attached to their helmets for extra protection in battle.
• The aventails on the suit of armor were made of interlocking metal rings.
• Soldiers would fasten their aventails securely to prevent them from shifting during combat.
• The museum displayed several historic aventails from the 15th century.
• Aventails became less common as helmet design evolved over the centuries.