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wail

[weyl]

verb (used without object)

to utter a prolonged, inarticulate, mournful cry, usually high-pitched or clear-sounding, as in grief or suffering: to wail with pain.

to make mournful sounds, as music or the wind.

to lament or mourn bitterly.

Jazz. to perform exceptionally well.

Slang. to express emotion musically or verbally in an exciting, satisfying way.

verb (used with object)

to express deep sorrow for; mourn; lament; bewail: to wail the dead; to wail one's fate.

to express in wailing; cry or say in lamentation: to wail one's grief.

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Wail is one of our favorite verbs.

So is fletcherise. Does it mean:

to run away hurriedly; flee.

to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.

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noun

the act of wailing.

a wailing cry, as of grief, pain, or despair.

10.

any similar mournful sound: the wail of an old tune.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English weile (v. and noun), perhaps derivative of Old English weilā(wei) well-away; compare Old English wǣlan to torment, Old Norse wǣla to wail

Related forms

wail·er, noun

wail·ing·ly, adverb

un·wailed, adjective

un·wail·ing, adjective

Can be confused: wail, whale.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To wail

Example Sentences

The banshee wail of an ambulance, the song of its siren, is the stuff of awful visions.

College administrators rend their garments and wail about student retention.

From beginning to end, her book is a puzzling wail about the high rate of childlessness among successful women.

EXPAND

The banshee wail of an ambulance, the song of its siren, is the stuff of awful visions.

College administrators rend their garments and wail about student retention.

From beginning to end, her book is a puzzling wail about the high rate of childlessness among successful women.

Otherwise the wail of the loons is at risk in the northern wilderness.

Beware post hoc ergo propter hoc, wail the logicians.

Go on, lift up the neck of the guitar and press on the whammy bar to really wail on an extended note.

Wall space is ample for this number of frames, so that the wail of the skied is not heard in the land.

Not far away other earthquake survivors wail in agony in a makeshift hospital.

Then came the sickening sound of a wild tumble, the clatter of hooves, a terrified wail.

And there is the startled jolt of adrenaline in response to the roar of a leopard--or the wail of an alarm.

He drove forward, tires pulling in the fine soil, and the detector crescendoed to an electric wail.

When the bus started moving again, the baby began to wail.

But you can always remember the good old days and wail.

Wail if you must, but expect to be heard only if your wailing leads us all somehow to orgasm.

Sharapova likes to crush the ball, filling the air with a high-pitched wail as she pummels the ball.

The more they are proven wrong, the louder they wail.

Now scientists are finding that the wail of a newborn infant can signal not just.

Those who weep and wail that access and opportunity are constantly under threat should have a reality check.

The written word can never do justice to the early-morning wail of a car alarm.

It's a deep, primordial sound that builds to a metallic wail as the power comes on in a seemingly unending rush.

Sometimes, a wail of grief from parents learning of the death of their fragile baby added to the cacophony.

The square was filled with the crack of tear gas canisters and the wail of.

Gilmour calls out the gusts he spots coming our way, shouting over the eerie wail of carbon fiber under tension.

Outside her bedroom window, a siren's wail sliced through the.

Peasant women with raccoonish black circles around their eyes wail at the fate of their starving families.

Wynette's voice isn't quite what it used to be, her crowing country wail still put.

She sounds an urgent wail that echoes loudly off the empty stoops.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

wail (weɪl)

—vb
1.	(intr) to utter a prolonged high-pitched cry, as of grief or misery
2.	(intr) to make a sound resembling such a cry: the wind wailed in the trees
3.	(tr) to lament, esp with mournful sounds

—n
4.	a prolonged high-pitched mournful cry or sound

[C14: of Scandinavian origin; related to Old Norse vǣla to wail, Old English wāwoe]

'wailer

—n

'wailful

—*adj*

'wailfully

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

wail

early 14c., from O.N. væla "to lament," from væ "woe" (see woe). Of jazz musicians, "to play very well," attested from 1955, Amer.Eng. slang (wailing "excellent" is attested from 1954). The noun is recorded from c.1400.

Slang Dictionary

wail definition

in.
to be great. (See also wailing.) : Things really started to wail about midnight when the band really got going.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Related Words

howl bawl bewail keen ululate

ululate undulate wailful wailsome

Matching Quote

"The drama of life begins with a wail and ends with a sigh."

-Minna Antrim

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