wail
verb /weɪl/
/weɪl/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they wail | /weɪl/ /weɪl/ |
| he / she / it wails | /weɪlz/ /weɪlz/ |
| past simple wailed | /weɪld/ /weɪld/ |
| past participle wailed | /weɪld/ /weɪld/ |
| -ing form wailing | /ˈweɪlɪŋ/ /ˈweɪlɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive] to make a long, loud, high noise because you are sad or in pain
- The little girl was wailing miserably.
Homophones wail | whalewail whale/weɪl//weɪl/- wail verb
- The blow made him wail with pain.
- wail noun
- The blood-curdling wail sent shivers down her spine.
- whale noun
- The blue whale is the largest mammal on the planet.
Extra ExamplesTopics Feelingsc2- A crowd of women followed the coffin, weeping and wailing.
- He wailed with despair.
- wailing for her dead husband
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + wail- begin to
- start to
- hear somebody/something
- …
- for
- with
- weeping and wailing
- [transitive, intransitive] to cry or complain about something in a loud high voice synonym moan
- The cat was wailing to be let out.
- + speech ‘It's broken,’ she wailed.
- wail (about something) There's no point wailing about something that happened so long ago.
- [intransitive] (of things) to make a long, loud, high sound
- Ambulances raced by with sirens wailing.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + wail- begin to
- start to
- hear somebody/something
- …
- for
- with
- weeping and wailing
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old Norse; related to woe.