English Explanatory Dictionary

wail

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.
  2. To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.
  3. To make a noise like mourning or crying.
  4. To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
  5. To perform with great liveliness and force.
noun
  1. A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.
  2. Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.
  3. A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.
verb
  1. Synonym of wale (“to choose; to select”).
name
  1. A locality in the Rural City of Horsham, western Victoria, Australia.

Pronunciation

wāl /weɪl/ [weɪɫ] en-us-wail.ogg

Word forms

wail wails wailing wailed

Etymology

c. 1300, Middle English weilen, waylen (“to sob, cry, wail”), from Old Norse væla (“to wail”), from væ, vei (“woe”), from Proto-Germanic *wai (whence also Old English wā (“woe”) (English woe)), from Proto-Indo-European *wáy. The verb is first attested in the intransitive sense; the transitive sense developed in mid-14ᵗʰ c.. The noun came from the verb.

Synonyms

groan moan burst into tears beweep cry cry one's eyes out greet shed a tear shed tears squirt some wail weep keen ululate lament mourn afterthink becry begrieve bemoan bemourn bewail condole deplore elegize grieve grieven mean pine repent sigh sorrow wayment wale

Derived words

bewail wailer wail on wailingly Daily Wail death wail widow-wail
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