Wail

Definitions: Wail

Wail

Noun

1. A cry of sorrow and grief; "their pitiful laments could be heard throughout the ward".

Verb

1. Emit long loud cries; "wail in self-pity", "howl with sorrow".

2. Cry weakly or softly; "she wailed with pain".

Date "wail" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1200. (references)

Domain	Definitions
Dream Interpretation	A wail falling upon your ear while in the midst of a dream, brings fearful news of disaster and woe. For a young woman to hear a wail, foretells that she will be deserted and left alone in distress, and perchance disgrace. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted ....
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Wail

Synonyms: lament (n), lamentation (n), plaint (n), howl (v), mewl (v), pule (v), roar (v), ululate (v), whimper (v), yawl (v). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Lamentation	Sigh; give a sigh, heave, fetch a sigh; "waft a sigh from Indus to the pole"; sigh "like a furnace"; wail.
	Noun: lament, lamentation; wail, complaint, plaint, murmur, mutter, grumble, groan, moan, whine, whimper, sob, sigh, suspiration, heaving, deep sigh.
	Cry; (vociferation); scream, howl; outcry, wail of woe, ululation; frown, scowl.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Wail

English words defined with "wail": Coved ceiling ♦ Wailed, Wayment, Weyle. (references)

Specialty definitions using "wail": Flowers and Trees with Christian Traditions ♦ Wail. (references)

Etymologies containing "wail": Ejulation ♦ Weyle. (references)

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	From the moment we enter crying to the moment we leave dying, it will cover just your head as you wail and cry and scream! (Dead Poets Society; writing credit: Tom Schulman)
Lyrics	Let me teach you how to jive and wail (Jump Jive An' Wail; performing artist: Brian Setzer Orchestra; writing credit: L. Prima) They began to wail (Rock the Casbah; performing artist: The Clash)
Movie/TV Titles	A Wall Street Wail (1913)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Between Floors & Open Doors: Jonas's Wail (reference) Bluegrass: From the Lonesome Wail of a Mountain Love Song to the Hammering Drive of the Scuggs-Style Banjo, the Story of an American Musical traditio (reference) Jump, Jive An Wail (reference) Kashmir Wail of a Valley (reference) Wail of Kashmir (reference) (more book examples)

Music	Blue Wail (reference) Original Rockabilly and Chicken Bop, Vol. 3: Wail Man Wail! (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Author	Quotation
Minna Antrim	The drama of life begins with a wail and ends with a sigh.
William Shakespeare	Wise men never sit and wail their loss, but cheerily seek how to redress their harms.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Title	Author	Quote
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man	Joyce, James	A wail of sorrow went up from the people.
King Richard III	Shakespeare, William	To wail the title, as her mother doth.
Grapes of Wrath	Steinbeck, John	From the house came the clash of a lid on the stove and the wail of a child.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

"Wail" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 78.62% of the time. "Wail" is used about 145 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	78.62%	114	30,294
Lexical Verb (infinitive)	17.24%	25	69,787
Lexical Verb (base form)	4.14%	6	143,867
Total	100.00%	145	N/A

Hypenated Usage
	Ending with "wail": banshee-wail, death-wail, mid-wail, Widow-wail.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "wail"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		vajtoj (bemoan, bewail, deplore, howl, lament, mourn), vajtim (howl, lament, lamentation, mourning), ulërin era, ulërimë e erës, rënkoj (bellow, groan, howl, mewl, moan, sob, whimper, whine), rënkim (groan, howl, jeremiad, moan, whimper, whine, wow), kujë, angullimë (squeak, squeal, whimper, whine, yelp). (various references)

Arabic		‏نوح (bemoan, bewail, lament, moan), ‏نحب (blubber, lament), ‏ندب (bewail, cicatrize, delegation, lament, mourn, mourn lament, scar, weep), ‏عويل (lamentation, plaint, scream, wailing), ‏عول (keen, moan, pule, ram, responsibility, snivel, sustenance, ululate), ‏إنتحب (blubber, squeal, whine, yammer), ‏شكا (beef, complain, fuss, gripe, grouch, grouse, grudge, grumble, pity, plain, repine, squeal, whimper, yell). (various references)

Bulgarian		стон (groan, moan, sigh), стенание (groan, moan, sigh, whine), ридая (lament, sob, weep), ридание (lament, lamentation, mourning, plaint, sob), вой (clamor, clamour, cry, howl, rave, whine, yawl, yowl), вопъл (lament, lamentation, plaint), вия (chide, howl, twine, twist, ululate, waul, whine, wreathe, yowl), оплакване (complaint, grumble, jeremiad, kick, lament, lamentation, moan, mourning, plaint, sorrow, ululation), оплаквам (bemoan, bewail, lament, mourn, rinse, swill, weep). (various references)

Chinese		嚎啕, �"�號 (cry piteously), �"�鳴 (a plaintive whine), �"�泣 , �'� , 偯 (to sob). (various references)

Czech		naříkat (complain, deplore, groan, mourn, whimper), naříkání (complaint), nářek (lament), lkát (weep), lkání, kvílet (howl), kvílení (hoot, howl, howling), křik (call, clamor, clamour, outcry, shout, shriek, squall, yowl), křièet (cry, holler, scream, shout, shriek, whoop, yowl), bìdovat (lament, moan, whine), bìdování (Lam, lamentation, moan, whine). (various references)

Dutch		weeklagen (lament), steen en been klagen (lament). (various references)

Esperanto		lamenti (lament). (various references)

Faeroese		vena seg (groan, lament, moan). (various references)

Farsi		ماتم گرفتن (Mourn), ناله کردن (Bleat, Groan, Hone, Whimper, Whine), ناله (Croon, Dolor, Groan, Grumble, Moan, Whimper, Whine), شیون کردن . (various references)

Finnish		valitella (lament). (various references)

French		vagissement, vagir, se lamenter, pleurnicher, pleurer (water), plaindre, larmoyer (water), lamenter, hurler, hurlement (wailing), gémissement (wailing), gémir, brailler. (various references)

German		jammern (bellyache, groan, lament, lamentation, moan, squeal, to lament, wailing, whine, yammer), klagen (bewail, bring an action against, complain, complaints, cry, lament, lamentation, lamentations, moan, Sue, to bewail, ululate, ululation, wailing, whine, worry). (various references)

Greek		κλαίω (cry, mourn, weep), θρηνώ (bemoan, bewail, deplore, grieve, lament, moan, mourn, rue, sorrow, weep), θρήνοσ (lament, lamentation, plaint, weeping). (various references)

Hebrew		לילל (grizzle, howl, squeal, ululate, whine), ליבב (sob, squeal, ululate, whimper, yowl), לקו� ן (bemoan, dirge, lament, moan, mourn), לזעוק (cry, lament, outcry, shout), ל�"תאבל (grieve, lament, mourn, sorrow, wear the willow), ל�"ספי�" (bewail, eulogize, lament, mourn), ל�'עות (bleat, low, moo, weep), ל� אוק (cry, groan). (various references)

Hungarian		jajveszékelés (lamentation, ululation, wain, whining). (various references)

Indonesian		mengaduh (groan, lament, moan, whine), gero-gero, dengungan (bellow, buzz, drone, hum, propaganda), berdengung (buzz, drone, hum, resound). (various references)

Italian		gemere (bleat, groan, moan, sough, whine). (various references)

Korean		통곡. (various references)

Manx		keayney (cry, crying, deplore, greet, keening, lament, lamentation, lamenting, mourn, mourning, wailing, weep, weeping, weeping; keen-minded). (various references)

Pig Latin		ailway

Portuguese		queixar‐se (complain, lament), prantear (lamentable, mourn, weep), lamuriar-se (grizzle), lamentar-se (complain, croon, groan, natter, plain, repine, the mopes, ululate), lamentar‐se (complain, lament), lamentação (groan, grouse, jeremiad, lament, lamentation, moan, plaint), lamúria (fret, railing, whimper), grito de dor, gemer (groan, grunt, howl, moan, sigh, whine), chorar (bemoan, bewail, burst into tears, cry, ding, grizzle, mewl, mourn, mule, pule, scandalize, weep). (various references)

Romanian		plânge (complain, cry, grieve, hanker, lament, laugh on the wrong side of one's mouth, mourn, pipe, weep), boci (bemoan, bewail, pipe), cãina (deplore), geamãt (groan, moan), jeli (bemoan, bewail, groan, lament, mourn, mourn for), jelui, jeluire (complaint), bocet (dirge, groans, keen, lament, lamentation, threnody, wailing), oftat (complaint, groan, sigh, sob, suspiration), vãita (groan), plânset de durere, se jeli (cry), tângui (bewail, complain, cry, deplore, weep), urla (bluster, call, cry, hoot, howl, rage, rave, roar, set up a howl, squall, yell, yowl), urlet al vântului, vãicãrealã (grumble), lamenta (lament). (various references)

Russian		вопль (bawl, cry, yell), вопить (bawl, holler, shriek, yell), завывание (ululation), ахать (lament). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		zavijati (chide, ululate), naricati (lament), jadikovati (moan, waul), jadikovanje (lament, lamentation, moaning, plaint, wailing, weeping). (various references)

Spanish		lamento (cry, lament, lamentation, plaint, threnody, wails), lamentarse (bewail, lament, mourn). (various references)

Swedish		jämra sig (lament, yammer). (various references)

Turkish		yas tutmak (lament, mourn, sorrow), inlemek (grizzle, groan, howl, moan, sough, whimper, yammer), hayıflanmak (bewail, deplore, regret), feryat etmek (bellow, cry out, scream, shriek, squall, ululate), feryat (bellow, clamor, clamour, cry, howl, jeremiad, lamentation, outcry, scream, shout, ululation), acı acı bağırmak (screech, shriek, shrill), ağlamak (bewail, cry, give a cry, mourn, pipe one's eye, pule, shed tears, snivel, turn on the waterworks, weep, whimper, yammer), ağlama (cry, lachrymation, lament, lamentation, weep, weeping, whimper), ağıt yakmak (elegize upon, keen, lament). (various references)

Turkmen		waсkyrmak, nдrazyзylyk (outcry, scream), jдgildemek. (various references)

Ukranian		стогнати (groan, howl, moan), скаржитися (beef, belch, complain, grumble, natter, pine, yammer), ремствувати (murmur, repine, yammer), ридання (lachrymals, lament, mourning, sob, weep), грати на джазовому інструменті, голосіння, волати (bawl, bellow, yell), зойк (clang, cry, exclamation, shriek, squall, whoop, yawl, yell), завивати (becurl, crisp, curl, frizz, frizzle, ululate, wave), завивання (howl, ululation), лемент (roar, yammer). (various references)

Vietnamese		tiếng than van (moan, whine), tiếng rền rĩ (moan), tiếng khóc than. (various references)

Welsh		wylofain (wailing, weep), ubain (howl, moan, sob), oernadu (howl, lament), oernad (howl, lamentation). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	gemo, lamentari, lamentor, ploro, vagi, vagientem. (various references)
Avestan	200-600	nimraomnô. (various references)
Irish	1000-Modern	caoinim. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Language	Date	Source	Micah Chapter 1, Verse 8
Greek (transliterated)	250 BC	Septuagint	Eneken toutou koyetai kai qrhnhsei poreusetai anupodetoV kai gumnh poihsetai kopeton wV drakontwn kai penqoV wV qugaterwn seirhnwn
Latin	405	Vulgate	Super hoc plangam et ululabo vadam spoliatus et nudus faciam planctum velut draconum et luctum quasi strutionum
Middle English	1395	Wyclif	On this thing Y shal weile and youle, Y shal go spuylid and nakid; and Y shal make weyling as of dragouns, and mournyng as of struciouns.
Jacobean English	1611	King James	Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
Victorian English	1833	Webster	Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
Basic English	1964	Ogden	For this I will be full of sorrow and give cries of grief; I will go uncovered and unclothed: I will give cries of grief like the jackals and will be in sorrow like the ostriches.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language	Micah Chapter 1, Verse 8
Cebuano	¶ Tungod niini magabakho ug magaminatay ako; molakaw ako nga walay bisti ug hinuboan; ako magaminatay ingon sa iro nga ihalas, ug magabakho ingon sa mga avestrus.
Croatian	"Zato æu zakukati i zaridati, iæi æu gol i bos, zavijat æu kao šakali, urlikat æu kao nojevi.
Danish	Derfor vil jeg klage og jamre, gå nøgen med bare Fødder, istemme Klage som Sjakaler, jamrende Skrig som Strudse:
Dutch	Hierom zal ik misbaar bedrijven en huilen; ik zal beroofd en naakt gaan; ik zal misbaar maken als de draken, en treuren als de jonge struisen.
Finnish	Tämän tähden minä tahdon valittaa ja voivotella, käydä avojaloin ja vaipatta, virittää valituslaulun kuin aavikkosudet, suruhuudon kuin kamelikurjet.
French	C`est pourquoi je pleurerai, je me lamenterai, Je marcherai déchaussé et nu, Je pousserai des cris comme le chacal, Et des gémissements comme l`autruche.
German	Darüber muß ich klagen und heulen, ich muß beraubt und bloß dahergehen; ich muß klagen wie die Schakale und trauern wie die Strauße.
Haitian Creole	¶ Lèfini, Miche di: Se poutèt sa m'ap plenn, m'ap kriye. M'ap pwonmennen mache pye atè, toutouni, pou m' fè wè lapenn mwen. M'ap rele tankou frize, m'ap wouke tankou chen.
Hungarian	E miatt kesergek és jajgatok; ruhátalan és mezítelen járok. Üvöltök, mint a sakálok, és sikongok, mint a struczmadarak.
Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari	Karena itu aku, Mikha, bersedih hati dan mengeluh. Aku akan berjalan tanpa pakaian dan tanpa kasut untuk menunjukkan betapa sedihnya hatiku. Aku akan melolong seperti anjing hutan dan meraung seperti burung unta.
Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama	Maka sebab itu aku meratap dan meraung, aku berjalan dengan telanjang dan terurai, aku bergaduh-gaduh seperti naga dan merindu seperti burung unta.
Maori	¶ Mo reira ka tangi ahau, ka aue, ka haere ahau, tihore rawa nga kakahu, tahanga kau: ka rite taku tangi ki ta nga kuri mohoao, taku uhunga ki ta nga otereti.
Norwegian	Over dette vil jeg klage og hyle, jeg vil gå barbent og naken; jeg vil opløfte klageskrik som sjakalene og jamre mig som strutsene.
Portuguese	Por isso lamentarei e uivarei, andarei despojado e nu farei lamentação como de chacais, e pranto como de avestruzes.
Rumanian	Deaceea plkng, mq bocesc, umblu desculy wi gol, strig ca wacalul, wi gem ca struyul.
Russian	п�' ЬФПН �'Х�"Х С � МБЛБФШ Й ТЩ�"БФШ, �'Х�"Х ИП�"ЙФШ, ЛБЛ ПЗТБ�'МЕООЩК Й П�'ОБЦЕООЩК, ЧЩФШ, ЛБЛ ЫБЛБМЩ, Й � МБЛБФШ, ЛБЛ УФТБХУЩ,
Spanish	Por tanto, lamentaré y gemiré. Andaré descalzo y desnudo, gimiendo como los chacales y lamentando como las avestruces.
Swedish	Fördenskull måste jag klaga och jämra mig, jag måste gå barfota och naken; jag måste upphäva klagoskri såsom en schakal och sorgelåt såsom en struts.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "wail": wailed, wailer, wailers, wailful, wailfully, wailing, wails, wailsome. (additional references)
	Words ending with "wail": bewail, swail. (additional references)
	Words containing "wail": bewailed, bewailer, bewailers, bewailing, bewails, swails. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Wail" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: awal, Awali, awi, Awiel, awil, awol, dwmail, mwali, qail, qali, swail, twail, waaah, waal, wael, wahl, wai, waic, waifl, waig, waik, waile, wailk, wailt, waily, waip, wair, waiv, wakil, wal, walid, walin, wamily, Wapi, warl, wasi, Wasik, wauk, waum, wavily, wayi, wayle, wayo, Wazir, weia, weic, weidl, weil, weile, weim, weio, weyl, whail, whil, whill, wia, wial, wiam, wiap, wiax, wil, wila, wili, Wilia, wiol, woal, woel, woil, wrail, wril, wual, wui, Wwi. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "wail" (pronounced wā"l)
3	w ā" l	quail, quale, Wale, whale.
2	-ā" l	ail, ale, assail, avail, bail, bale, braille, Carrell, curtail, dale, derail, detail, entail, exhale, fail, flail, frail, gale, grail, hail, Hale, impale, inhale, jail, kail, kale, mail, maile, male, nail, pail, pale, prevail, rail, sail, sale, scale, shale, snail, stale, surveil, tail, tale, trail, tramell, travail, unveil, Vail, Vale, veil.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-i-l-w"
	-1 letter: ail, awl, law.
	-2 letters: ai, al, aw, la, li.
	Words containing the letters "a-i-l-w"
	+1 letter: pilaw, swail, wails.
	+2 letters: aswirl, awhile, awhirl, bewail, inwall, lawine, lawing, oilway, pilaws, swails, wailed, wailer, walies, waling, wallie, warily, wavily, waxily, withal.
	+3 letters: airflow, airglow, alewife, bawdily, bawling, bewails, blawing, brawlie, clawing, flawier, flawing, gawkily, inwalls, jawlike, jawline, lapwing, lauwine, lawines, lawings, lawlike, lawsuit, lifeway, oilways, pawkily, pinwale, railway, sahiwal, sawbill, sawlike, sawmill, slipway, tawnily, wackily, wagtail, wailers, wailful, wailing, walking, wallies, walling, warlike, waspily, wassail, wauling, wawling, waxbill, waxlike, waybill, waylaid, wearily, weigela, whaling, wildcat, wirable, woorali, yawling.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

57 61 69 6C

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)

⁼

Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)

Braille (1829, in France) (references)

Morse Code (1836) (references)

.--. .- .. .-..

Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01010111 01100001 01101001 01101100

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#87 &#97 &#105 &#108

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0057 0061 0069 006C

British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

Expression	Frequency per Day
given wail	27
wail	19
jump jive wail	16
jive jump lyrics wail	6
wail yelp	5
jive jump mp3 setzer wail	4
humpback wail	3
harmonious wail	2
banshee wail	2
jive jump midi wail	2
guitar jive jump tab wail	2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Wail

Definitions: Wail

Wail

Noun

Verb

Specialty Definitions: Wail

Synonyms: Wail

Synonyms within Context: Wail

Lamentation

Crosswords: Wail

Modern Usage: Wail

Screenplays

Lyrics

Movie/TV Titles

Commercial Usage: Wail

Books

Music

Image Slideshow: Wail

Illustrations:Wail

Computer Images:Wail

Familiar Quotations: Wail

Minna Antrim

William Shakespeare

Use in Literature: Wail

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Joyce, James

King Richard III

Shakespeare, William

Grapes of Wrath

Steinbeck, John

Usage Frequency: Wail

Expressions: Wail

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Wail

Modern Translations: Wail

Albanian

Arabic

Bulgarian

Chinese

Czech

Dutch

Esperanto

Faeroese

Farsi

Finnish

French

German

Greek

Hebrew

Hungarian

Indonesian

Italian

Korean

Manx

Pig Latin

Portuguese

Romanian

Russian

Serbo-Croatian

Spanish

Swedish

Turkish

Turkmen

Ukranian

Vietnamese

Welsh

Ancestral Language Translations: Wail

Bible Trace: Wail

Matched Bible Translations: Wail

Derivations & Misspellings: Wail

Derivations

Misspellings

Rhyming with "Wail"

Anagrams: Wail

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Alternative Orthography: Wail

57 61 69 6C

.--. .- .. .-..

01010111 01100001 01101001 01101100

&#87 &#97 &#105 &#108

0057 0061 0069 006C

Illustrations:
Wail

Computer Images:
Wail