Wail

//weɪl// name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.

    "She let out a loud, doleful wail."

  2. 2
    a cry of sorrow and grief wordnet
  3. 3
    Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.

    "The wail of snow-dark winter winds."

  4. 4
    A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.
Verb
  1. 1
    To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish. intransitive
  2. 2
    Synonym of wale (“to choose; to select”). obsolete

    "Wailed wine and metes"

  3. 3
    cry weakly or softly wordnet
  4. 4
    To weep, lament persistently or bitterly. intransitive
  5. 5
    emit long loud cries wordnet
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    To make a noise like mourning or crying. intransitive

    "The wind wailed and the rain streamed down."

  2. 7
    To lament; to bewail; to grieve over. transitive

    "to wail one's death"

  3. 8
    To perform with great liveliness and force. slang

    "Another outstanding surfer from Hawaii - Fred Hemmings. Fred only stands up on alternate Wednesdays, but when he does, he really wails."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A locality in the Rural City of Horsham, western Victoria, Australia.

Synonyms

All synonyms
howllamentululatebeweepkeenafterthink

Example

More examples

"Meanwhile a mingled murmur through the street / rolls onward – wails of anguish, shrieks of fear –, / and though my father's mansion stood secrete, / embowered in foliage, nearer and more near / peals the dire clang of arms, and loud and clear, / borne on fierce echoes that in tumult blend, / war-shout and wail come thickening on the ear."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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

Related phrases

Daily Wailwail onwidow-wailcry weepkeening crylike pailloud cryingsadness noiseshriek screamterrible cry

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