WAIL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wail mean? 

• WAIL (noun)
  The noun WAIL has 1 sense:

1. a cry of sorrow and grief

  Familiarity information: WAIL used as a noun is very rare.

• WAIL (verb)
  The verb WAIL has 2 senses:

1. emit long loud cries

2. cry weakly or softly

  Familiarity information: WAIL used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WAIL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cry of sorrow and grief

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

lament; lamentation; plaint; wail

Context example:

their pitiful laments could be heard throughout the ward

Hypernyms ("wail" is a kind of...):

complaint ((formerly) a loud cry (or repeated cries) of pain or rage or sorrow)

Derivation:

wail (cry weakly or softly)

wail (emit long loud cries)

• WAIL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they wail    ... he / she / it wails   
Past simple: wailed   
Past participle: wailed   
-ing form: wailing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Emit long loud cries

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

howl; roar; ululate; wail; yaup; yawl

Context example:

howl with sorrow

Hypernyms (to "wail" is one way to...):

call; cry; holler; hollo; scream; shout; shout out; squall; yell (utter a sudden loud cry)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wail"):

squall; waul; wawl (make high-pitched, whiney noises)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sentence examples:

You can hear animals wail in the meadows
The meadows wail with animals

Derivation:

wail (a cry of sorrow and grief)

wailer (a mourner who utters long loud high-pitched cries)

wailing (loud cries made while weeping)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cry weakly or softly

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

mewl; pule; wail; whimper

Context example:

she wailed with pain

Hypernyms (to "wail" is one way to...):

cry; weep (shed tears because of sadness, rage, or pain)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

wail (a cry of sorrow and grief)

 Context examples 

"He is not hungry no more," wailed Dutchy.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

The house was still as death, and nothing but the wailing of the wind broke the deep hush.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“Darby M'Graw,” it wailed—for that is the word that best describes the sound—“Darby M'Graw!

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

They surrounded the cub and laughed at him, while he wailed out his terror and his hurt.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

“I do not believe that the police credit me—on my word, I do not,” said he in a wailing voice.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the coming storm.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

“If you will only give me something to do!” was his constant wail.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“I can never get them clean again,” she wailed, “nor soften the weather-beat.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“No, no; not so soon! She cannot be ready for sea,” said Lady Hamilton, in a wailing voice, clasping her hands and turning up her eyes as she spoke.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The wind fell, for a second, round Thornfield; but far away over wood and water, poured a wild, melancholy wail: it was sad to listen to, and I ran off again.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)