English Explanatory Dictionary

drail

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A hook with a lead shank.
  2. The piece of lead around the shank of such a hook.
  3. The iron bow of a plough from which the traces draw.
verb
  1. To trawl.

Pronunciation

/dɹeɪl/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-drail.wav

Word forms

drail drails drailing drailed

Etymology

From Middle English *drailen (attested as drailed), a variant of Middle English trailen (“to hang loosely, drag along, drag away”), from a merger of Old French trailer, traillier (“to trail”) and Old English trǣġlian, trǣġelian (“to pluck, pull away”). The alteration of trailen to drailen was probably due to influence from Middle English dragan, drawen (“to drag, draw”).

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on D Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary