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wail

[ ˈwāl]

wail

noun

Definition of wail (Entry 2 of 2)

1a : a usually prolonged cry or sound expressing grief or pain

b : a sound suggestive of wailing
//the wail of an air-raid siren

c : a querulous expression of grievance : complaint

2 : the act or practice of wailing : loud lamentation

wail

verb

[ˈwāl]

wailed; wailing; wails

Definition of wail

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to express sorrow audibly : lament

2 : to make a sound suggestive of a mournful cry

3 : to express dissatisfaction plaintively : complain

transitive verb

1 : to say or express plaintively
//wailed that her cake was ruined

2 archaic : bewail

Other Words from wail

Verb

wailer \ ˈwā-lər \ noun

Synonyms & Antonyms for dainty

Synonyms: Verb

Synonyms: Noun

Synonyms: Antonyms:verb

Synonyms: Antonyms:noun

Recent Examples on the Web

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
//When her child was killed in battle, Brigid invented keening, a low, wailing lament that rolled up out of her and across the land.
— Carmel Mc Mahon, Longreads, "Brigid, Magdalene, My Mother, and Me," 13 Nov. 2019
//Joplin had never sung with a drummer or wailing electric guitars before.
— Jim Farber, EW.com, "How Janis Joplin went from small-town Texas kid to musical pioneer," 21 Oct. 2019
//Trying to revive him, a woman splashes his body with a basin of water, wailing.
— Paul Salopek, National Geographic, "Following a river of questions in eastern India," 16 Oct. 2019
//Sick people coughed loudly and babies wailed all night.
— Kate Linthicum, San Diego Union-Tribune, "U.S. border authorities hold migrant families in a pen under an El Paso bridge," 29 Mar. 2019
//The women were left broken, wailing, and searching.
— New York Times, "One Minute It Was an Afghan Wedding. The Next, a Funeral for 63.," 18 Aug. 2019
//Her wailing three-year-old son Stephane and her oldest boy, then 14, were forced to watch helplessly as their mother was bashed black and blue.
— Fox News, "Shunned Congolese refugee on raising a son born out of rape: the baby had a right to live," 2 July 2019
//Deputies in Northern California helped a wailing baby bear reunite with its family after the cub got stuck inside the container The bear cub can be heard crying from inside the metal container in video recorded by deputies.
— Washington Post, "California deputies rescue wailing bear trapped in dumpster," 31 Aug. 2019
//Governments wail that as data and ideas can zip across borders, taxable profits can slip between their tax-collectors’ fingers.
— The Economist, "France is giving unilateralism a go," 22 Aug. 2019
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
//And when King unleashed her bluesy, Janis Joplin-like wail, King’s voice was as visceral and commanding as a Harley roaring down a highway.
— Piet Levy, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Miranda Lambert puts on the year's best country concert in Milwaukee, with help from the Pistol Annies," 19 Oct. 2019
//Minnesota chose the common loon, whose haunting wails echo across the state’s northern lakes each summer.
— New York Times, "These State Birds May Be Forced Out of Their States as the World Warms," 10 Oct. 2019
//Helicopters circled overhead, emergency vehicles rushed to a home on a dead-end street, and then a mother’s blood-curdling wail rose above the frenzied, futile attempts to breathe air into her little boy’s lungs, authorities and neighbors said.
— Tonya Alanez, sun-sentinel.com, "Boy, 2, drowns and his body is pulled from canal," 23 Sep. 2019
//Maybe there are echoes of Chinese voices in this song — Chinese minor keys, lullabies, countryside ballads, mountaintop wails.
— Anne Liu Kellor, Longreads, "Keeping My Promise to Popo," 18 Sep. 2019
//No wails or cries pierced the air in the church; mourners quietly sniffled and wiped away gentle tears in pews.
— Emma Keith, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit community mourns and remembers Emma Hernandez, 9, at funeral," 24 Aug. 2019
//The fact that Mother Jones herself isn’t currently haunting the offices of that magazine with a blood-curdling wail after a take that bad is proof that ghosts don’t exist.
— Luke O'neil, Longreads, "The Wind Sometimes Feels in Error," 29 July 2019
//That makes certain sense in an outdoor setting where the dialogue sometimes has to compete with the wail of ambulances, the clatter of helicopters, and the chiming of church bells.
— Don Aucoin, BostonGlobe.com, "On the Common, a whimsical ‘Cymbeline’," 25 July 2019
//Speaking over the wail of a police siren, a grinding organ and cars swishing past the sculpture, art historian Alberto Híjar said the anti-monuments are a way of occupying public space more permanently than with protest marches.
— Washington Post, "Mexico ‘anti-monuments’ recall dark moments, demand justice," 30 June 2019

First Known Use of wail

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

History and Etymology for wail

Verb

Middle English weilen, waylen, perhaps modification (influenced by Middle English weilawei wellaway) of Old Norse væla, vāla to wail; akin to Old Norse vei woe — more at woe

Dictionary Entries near wail

More Synonyms and Antonyms ofwail

Synonyms & Antonyms of wail

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 a crying out in grief

a prolonged wail arose from every corner of the city as the victims of the earthquake were unearthed from the rubble

Synonyms for wail

Words Related to wail

Near Antonyms for wail

Antonyms for wail

2 a long low sound indicating pain or grief

rescuers heard a faint wail coming from the pile of rubble, a sure sign that one of the victims was still alive

Synonyms for wail

groan,
moan

Words Related to wail

Near Antonyms for wail

3 an expression of dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment

a transit fare increase that is sure to bring wails from the straphangers

Synonyms for wail

Words Related to wail

Near Antonyms for wail

wail

verb

Synonyms & Antonyms of wail (Entry 2 of 2)

1 to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely

the state's residents are always wailing about their high taxes

Synonyms for wail

Words Related to wail

Phrases Synonymous with wail

kick up a fuss
(or kick up a stink)

Near Antonyms for wail

Antonyms for wail

2 to make a long loud mournful sound

the women stood beside the coffins, wailing for their fallen sons and daughters

Synonyms for wail

Words Related to wail

3 to utter a moan

the patient lay in her bed, occasionally softly wailing in pain

Synonyms for wail

groan,
moan

Words Related to wail

Near Antonyms for wail

More Definitions forwail

wail

verb

English Language Learners Definition of wail

(Entry 1 of 2)

: to make a loud, long cry of sadness or pain

: to make a long, high sound

: to complain in a loud voice

wail

noun

English Language Learners Definition of wail (Entry 2 of 2)

: a long cry of sadness or pain

: a long, high sound

wail

verb

\ ˈwāl \

wailed; wailing

Kids Definition of wail

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : to make a long, loud cry of pain or grief

2 : to complain with a loud voice

wail

noun

Kids Definition of wail (Entry 2 of 2)

: a long cry of grief or pain