entail
1 of 2verb
en·tail in-ˈtāl 
en-
entailed; entailing; entails
transitive verb
1
: to impose, involve, or imply as a necessary accompaniment or result
the project will entail considerable expense
2
: to restrict (property) by limiting the inheritance to the owner's lineal descendants or to a particular class thereof
3
a
: to confer, assign, or transmit (something) for an indefinitely long time : to confer, assign, or transmit as if by entail
entailed on them indelible disgrace
Robert Browning
Robert Browning b
: to fix (a person) permanently in some condition or status
entail him and his heirs unto the crown William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare entailer
in-ˈtā-lər
noun en-
entail
2 of 2noun
en·tail ˈen-ˌtāl in-ˈtāl
in-ˈtāl 1
a
: a restriction especially of lands by limiting the inheritance to the owner's lineal descendants or to a particular class thereof
b
: an entailed (see entail entry 1 sense 2) estate
2
: something transmitted as if by entail
Synonyms
Verb
- carry
- comprehend
- contain
- embrace
- encompass
- include
- involve
- number
- subsume
- take in
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Verb Pregnancy involves the bodily dependence of the unborn child on its mother; in many cases, it entails a significant physical burden. Cathleen Kaveny, Commonweal, 4 May 2007 … it was a Master Highlighter Event, a two-day guest appearance by one of Kinkade's specially trained assistants, who would highlight any picture bought during the event for free. Highlighting a picture is not that different from highlighting your hair: it entails stippling tiny bright dots of paint on the picture to give it more texture and luminescence. Susan Orlean, New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2001 Life is a difficult and complicated enterprise. It entails joy but also suffering, gain but also loss, hope but also despair. Neal Gabler, Life: The Movie, 1998 Discourse is a social as well as an intellectual activity; it entails interaction between minds, and it revolves around something possessed in common. David A. Hollinger, In the American Province, (1985) 1992 He accepted the responsibility, with all that it entails. a lavish wedding entails extensive planning and often staggering expense See More
Cathleen Kaveny, Commonweal, 4 May 2007 … it was a Master Highlighter Event, a two-day guest appearance by one of Kinkade's specially trained assistants, who would highlight any picture bought during the event for free. Highlighting a picture is not that different from highlighting your hair: it entails stippling tiny bright dots of paint on the picture to give it more texture and luminescence. Susan Orlean, New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2001 Life is a difficult and complicated enterprise. It entails joy but also suffering, gain but also loss, hope but also despair. Neal Gabler, Life: The Movie, 1998 Discourse is a social as well as an intellectual activity; it entails interaction between minds, and it revolves around something possessed in common. David A. Hollinger, In the American Province, (1985) 1992 He accepted the responsibility, with all that it entails. a lavish wedding entails extensive planning and often staggering expense See More Recent Examples on the Web Charles Mcnulty, Los Angeles Times, 13 Sep. 2022 And improvements in one area almost always entail trade-offs elsewhere. Christopher Flavelle, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Sep. 2022 That plan doesn’t appear to entail actually housing people, however. Lauren Lee White, The New Republic, 19 Aug. 2022 The pair go into the details of what being a professor is supposed to entail, and Katz describes how the profession has devolved from a vocation and to a job. Nr Staff, National Review, 8 July 2022 The effort will entail building mobile games off intellectual property tied to Sony’s PlayStation console. Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 30 Aug. 2022 That could entail moving from its recent rate increases of three-quarters of a percentage point to half-point moves in coming months. Jeanna Smialek, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Aug. 2022 Doing so would entail greater defense spending and cooperation with South Korea, as well as openly discussing a response to China’s threats to reunite Taiwan with the motherland. Richard J. Samuels, WSJ, 28 July 2022 Without bus service, getting her son who attends South to school will entail driving some 140 miles every day, between two round-trips to the school and their home. Morgan Krakow, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Aug. 2022 See More
Verb
An evening spent with Ibsen is inevitably going to entail a reckoning with evaded truth. Charles Mcnulty, Los Angeles Times, 13 Sep. 2022 And improvements in one area almost always entail trade-offs elsewhere. Christopher Flavelle, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Sep. 2022 That plan doesn’t appear to entail actually housing people, however. Lauren Lee White, The New Republic, 19 Aug. 2022 The pair go into the details of what being a professor is supposed to entail, and Katz describes how the profession has devolved from a vocation and to a job. Nr Staff, National Review, 8 July 2022 The effort will entail building mobile games off intellectual property tied to Sony’s PlayStation console. Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 30 Aug. 2022 That could entail moving from its recent rate increases of three-quarters of a percentage point to half-point moves in coming months. Jeanna Smialek, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Aug. 2022 Doing so would entail greater defense spending and cooperation with South Korea, as well as openly discussing a response to China’s threats to reunite Taiwan with the motherland. Richard J. Samuels, WSJ, 28 July 2022 Without bus service, getting her son who attends South to school will entail driving some 140 miles every day, between two round-trips to the school and their home. Morgan Krakow, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Aug. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Verb and Noun
Middle English entailen, entaillen, from en- entry 1 + taile, taille limitation — more at tail entry 4
First Known Use
Verb
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Legal Definition
entail 1 of 2
transitive verb
en·tail in-ˈtāl
: to make (an estate in real property) a fee tail : limit the descent of (real property) by restricting inheritance to specific descendants who cannot convey or transfer the property
estates are entailed entire on the eldest male heir Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklinentail
2 of 2noun
1
: an act or instance of entailing real property
also : the practice of entailing property
the repeal of the laws of entail would prevent the accumulation and perpetuation of wealth in select families Thomas Jefferson
see also De Donis Conditionalibus Thomas Jefferson 2
: an entailed estate in real property
if entails had not become barrable Eileen Spring
Eileen Spring3
: the fixed line of descent of an entailed estate
entailing
verb
as in involving
to have as part of a whole a lavish wedding entails extensive planning and often staggering expense Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- involving
- including
- encompassing
- containing
- carrying
- subsuming
- comprehending
- comprising
- embracing
- numbering
- taking in
- receiving
- incorporating
- possessing
- having
- constituting
- owning
- integrating
- bracketing
- forming
- admitting
- embodying
- holding
- composing
- assimilating
- making
- consisting (of)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- excluding
- preventing
- omitting
- prohibiting
- precluding
- leaving (out)
- barring
- eliminating
- denying
- banning
- refusing
- rejecting
- excepting
- debarring
- missing out
- losing
- misplacing
- mislaying
- ruling out
- foot louse
- foot mange
- foot mantle
- foot of the fine
- foot page
- foot passenger
- foot patrol
- foot pavement
- foot post
- foot pump
- foot racer
- foot rot
- foot rule
- foot scab
- foot score
- foot screw
- foot soldier
- foot soldiers
- foot stove
- foot switch
- foot tender
- foot the bill
- foot the bill (for)
- foot the bill for
- foot traffic