wail

verbnounverbattested in dialogue

//weɪl//
/[weɪɫ]/

To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.

verb

1
To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.
2
To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.
3
To make a noise like mourning or crying.
The wind wailed and the rain streamed down.
4
To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
to wail one's death
My lord, wise men ne'er sit and wail their woes
5
slangTo perform with great liveliness and force.
Another outstanding surfer from Hawaii - Fred Hemmings. Fred only stands up on alternate Wednesdays, but when he does, he really wails.
At Boston's Roseland, as "the Count's band was wailing," he grabbed Mamie, an avid dancer. The "band was screaming when she kicked off her shoes and got barefooted
The band was really wailing as we quickly made our dance moves in a most provocative manner.
We had a nondenominational wedding, with a bunch of great Sufi musicians really wailing, and my wildly enthusiastic mother in attendance.

Etymology

c. 1300, Middle English weilen, waylen (“to sob, cry, wail”), from Old Norse væla (“to wail”), from væ, vei (“woe”), from Proto-Germanic *wai (whence also Old English wā (“woe”) (English woe)), from Proto-Indo-European *wáy. The verb is first attested in the intransitive sense; the transitive sense developed in mid-14ᵗʰ c.. The noun came from the verb.

noun

1
A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.
She let out a loud, doleful wail.
2
Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.
The wail of snow-dark winter winds.
A bird's wail in the night.
3
A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.

verb

1
obsoleteSynonym of wale (“to choose; to select”).
Wailed wine and metes

Etymology

From Old Norse val (“choice”). Compare Icelandic velja (“to choose”). More at wale.

Forms

plural: wails
past tense: wailed
past participle: wailed
present participle: wailing
third person singular: wails

wah · A cry of fright, distress, etc. (especially of an infant or…Wah · A surname.wai · A Thai greeting wherein the palms are brought together in…

wail · To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.

Wail · A locality in the Rural City of Horsham, western Victoria,…wailing · A loud drawn out scream or howl.waist · The part of the body between the pelvis and the stomach.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.