Overhail

verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To call or tempt away from the correct path. obsolete

    "No hunter, so, but finds the breeding of the West best; The only kind of hounds for mouth and nostril That cold doth seldom fret, nor heat doth overhail; As standing in the flight, as pleasant on the trail; Free hunting, eas'ly checkt, and loving every chase; pace: Strait running, hard and tough, of reasonable Not heavy, as that hound which Lancashire dot breed;"

  2. 2
    To rain or sprinkle on top of. obsolete

    "So this star of Iacob had some staines, blemishes caft upon his light and lustre, especially in the cause of Vriah and his wife, not to be covered or alleviated any way: ótherwise he was as a guide by night, so bee the starres of heaven, in overhailed darknesse, to direct Israel in Gods wayes, and to discover dangers which might accrue."

  3. 3
    Synonym of overhaul. rare

    "In fact a stage has reached in Indo- nepalese relations where the pattern of Indian aid needs to be overhailed."

  4. 4
    To praise too much.

    "And the second thing is to hail, perhaps overhail, the good things in live drama."

Example

More examples

"No hunter, so, but finds the breeding of the West best; The only kind of hounds for mouth and nostril That cold doth seldom fret, nor heat doth overhail; As standing in the flight, as pleasant on the trail; Free hunting, eas'ly checkt, and loving every chase; pace: Strait running, hard and tough, of reasonable Not heavy, as that hound which Lancashire dot breed;"

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.