hail

nounverbadjectiveverbinterjectioncommon in dialogue

//heɪl//
/[heɪ̯ɫ]/
/[heːɫ]/

Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm.

noun

1
Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm.
2
An occurrence of this type of precipitation; a hailstorm.
3
A rapid, intense barrage by a large number of projectiles or other objects.
Their lack of good intelligence also meant that they vastly overestimated the size of their foes for far too long, hails of armor-piercing shells doing comparatively little damage compared to the high explosive that they should have been using.

Etymology

From Middle English hayl, haul, from Old English hæġl, hæġel, hagol (“hail”), from Proto-West Germanic *hagl, from Proto-Germanic *haglaz, of uncertain origin. Either from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰlos (“pebble”); or alternatively from *ḱoḱló-, a reduplication of *ḱel- (“cold”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hail (“hail”), West Frisian heil (“hail”), Low German Hagel (“hail”), German Hagel (“hail”), Dutch and Swedish hagel (“hail”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Icelandic hagl (“hail”). Compare also Old Norse héla (“frost”). Doublet of haglaz, if the second etymology (“cold”) is correct. Root-cognates outside of Germanic include Ancient Greek κάχληξ (kákhlēx, “pebble”), or alternatively Sanskrit शिशिर (śíśira, “cool, cold”), possibly also Lithuanian šešėlis (“shade, shadow”), depending on the etymology.

verb

1
To have hailstones fall from the sky.
They say it's going to hail tomorrow.
2
To send or release hail.
The cloud would hail down furiously within a few minutes.
3
To pour down in rapid succession.

Etymology

From Middle English haylen, haulien, hawelien, from Old English hagolian, hagalian (“to hail”), from Proto-West Germanic *haglōn, from Proto-Germanic *haglōną (“to hail”), from the noun (see above). Cognate with Saterland Frisian hailje (“to hail”), West Frisian heilje (“to hail”), Dutch hagelen (“to hail”), German Low German hageln (“to hail”), German hageln (“to hail”), Danish hagle (“to hail”), Swedish hagla (“to hail”), Norwegian Nynorsk hagle, hagla (“to hail”), Faroese hegla (“to hail”), Icelandic hagla (“to hail”).

adjective

1
obsoleteHealthy, whole, safe.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos Proto-Germanic *hailaz Old Norse heillbor. Middle English heyl English hail From Middle English heyl (“healthy, sound”), from Old Norse heill, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole, entire, healthy”). The verb is from Middle English heilen, itself from the adjective. Doublet of whole, hale, and heil.

verb

1
To greet; give salutation to; salute.
[…] Farewel happy Fields / Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrours, hail / Infernal world, and thou profoundeſt Hell / Receive they new Poſſeſſor: […]
2
To name; to designate; to call.
Such a Son as all men hail'd me happy;
He was hailed as a hero.
3
To call out loudly in order to gain the attention of.
Hail a taxi.
'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket / And the other one is hailin' a taxi cab
4
To call out loudly in order to gain the attention of. To indicate, from a designated stop or otherwise, to the driver of a public transport vehicle that one wishes to board and travel on the vehicle, usually using hand signals such as waving.
In Melbourne, you would usually have to hail a tram when you are travelling late at night and there are no other passengers waiting at your stop.
5
To signal in order to initiate communication with.
6
In the game of uppies and downies, to throw (the ball) repeatedly up and down at the goal location, in order to score a point.
7
to originate (from), be native (to) or be based (in)

interjection

1
archaicAn exclamation of respectful or reverent salutation, or, occasionally, of familiar greeting.
Hail, brave friend.
Hail (Hail) / What's the matter with your head? Yeah / Hail (Hail) / What's the matter with your mind / And your sign and-a, oh-oh-oh / Hail (Hail) / Nothing the matter with your head, baby, find it / Come on and find it / Hail

Forms

plural: hails
comparative: hailer
superlative: hailest
past tense: hailed
past participle: hailed
present participle: hailing
third person singular: hails

hah · Synonym of ah (sense 1); used to form tag questions prompting…haha · An onomatopoeic representation of laughter.hai · Hi.

hail · Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm.

Hail · A province of Saudi Arabia Hailey · A surname from Old English, a spelling variant of Hayley.Haines · A surname.

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