What does "hail" mean?
Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm.
Hail
/heɪl/ adj, intj, name, noun, verb
adj, intj, name, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm.
- Grammar: hail is listed as adj, intj, name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: a mass of, a world of, abide by, accede.
- Useful contrasts: boo, clear skies, condemn.
- Usage evidence: As a rule, hail falls in the summer.
How to use "hail"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hail" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "hail" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "hail" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hail" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "hail" is acting as adj, intj, name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "a mass of" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "hail", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm. uncountable
- 2 enthusiastic greeting wordnet
- 3 An occurrence of this type of precipitation; a hailstorm. countable
- 4 many objects thrown forcefully through the air wordnet
- 5 A rapid, intense barrage by a large number of projectiles or other objects. broadly, countable
"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."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 precipitation of ice pellets when there are strong rising air currents wordnet
Verb
- 1 To have hailstones fall from the sky. impersonal
"They say it's going to hail tomorrow."
- 2 To greet; give salutation to; salute. transitive
"[…] Farewel happy Fields / Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrours, hail / Infernal world, and thou profoundeſt Hell / Receive they new Poſſeſſor: […]"
- 3 praise vociferously wordnet
- 4 To send or release hail. intransitive
"The cloud would hail down furiously within a few minutes."
- 5 To name; to designate; to call. transitive
"Such a Son as all men hail'd me happy;"
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 greet enthusiastically or joyfully wordnet
- 7 To pour down in rapid succession.
- 8 To call out loudly in order to gain the attention of. transitive
"Hail a taxi."
- 9 call for wordnet
- 10 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. Australia, UK, broadly, transitive
"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."
- 11 be a native of wordnet
- 12 To signal in order to initiate communication with. transitive
- 13 precipitate as small ice particles wordnet
- 14 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. transitive
- 15 to originate (from), be native (to) or be based (in)
Adjective
- 1 Healthy, whole, safe. obsolete
Intj
- 1 An exclamation of respectful or reverent salutation, or, occasionally, of familiar greeting. archaic, poetic
"Hail, brave friend."
Proper Noun
- 1 A province of Saudi Arabia
- 2 A surname.
- 3 A city in Hail, Saudi Arabia
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"As a rule, hail falls in the summer."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hail"?
Common synonyms include: a mass of, a world of, abide by, accede, accept, acclaim.
How do you use "hail" in a sentence?
As a rule, hail falls in the summer.
How do you pronounce "hail"?
Pronounced /heɪl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English hayle, haile, hail, hawel, haghil, haȝel, 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”), Dutch hagel (“hail”), Low German Hagel (“hail”), German Hagel (“hail”), Danish hagl (“hail”), Swedish hagel (“hail”), 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.
Etymology 2
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”).
Etymology 3
From Middle English heil (“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.