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wail

verb
/weɪl/

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.

  1. derived from *wáy✻
  2. derived from *wai✻
  3. derived from væla
  4. inherited from weilen

Definitions

  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.

    • The wind wailed and the rain streamed down.
  4. ›+ 7 more definitions

    1. To lament

      To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.

      • to wail one's death
      • My lord, wise men ne'er sit and wail their woes

    2. To perform with great liveliness and force.

      • Another outstanding surfer from Hawaii - Fred Hemmings. Fred only stands up on alternate Wednesdays, but when he does, he really wails.
      • At Boston's Roseland, as "the Count's band was wailing," he grabbed Mamie, an avid dancer. The "band was screaming when she kicked off her shoes and got barefooted
      • The band was really wailing as we quickly made our dance moves in a most provocative manner.

    3. A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.

      • She let out a loud, doleful wail.

    4. Any similar sound as of lamentation

      Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.

      • The wail of snow-dark winter winds.
      • A bird's wail in the night.

    5. A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched…

      A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.

    6. Synonym of wale (“to choose

      Synonym of wale (“to choose; to select”).

      • Wailed wine and metes

    7. A locality in the Rural City of Horsham, western Victoria, Australia.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at wail. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01wail02mourning03lamentation04lamenting05lament

A definitional loop anchored at wail. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

5 hops · closes at wail

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA