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• grail
  grail

  noun

  Sometimes Grail any greatly desired and sought-after objective; ultimate ideal or reward.
• Grail
  Grail

  noun

  See Holy Grail

grail

American  

[greyl] / greɪl /

noun

• grails
  plural

1. Sometimes Grail any greatly desired and sought-after objective; ultimate ideal or reward.

   The film's protagonist is defined by the struggle for his grail, a championship title he failed to win earlier in life.

2. Often the Grail Holy Grail.

   Weeks pass, and none of the knights return, so King Arthur himself must quest for the Grail.

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Grail British  

/ ɡreɪl /

noun

1. See Holy Grail

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• grails
  plural

Etymology

Origin of grail

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English graiel, graile, from Anglo-French grahel, grayel, Old French gräel, grel, from Medieval Latin gradālis “platter,” of uncertain origin; perhaps distantly connected to Latin crātēr “mixing bowl” ( see crater ( def. )) or crātis “wickerwork” ( see grate ¹ ( def. ))

Explanation

A grail is some valuable thing you search for or pursue. A golfer's holy grail might be a hole in one. While the object of any serious pursuit is commonly described as a "holy grail," many who use the term might not know its origin. The original Holy Grail is a valuable chalice, cup, or plate — often made of gold — that's sought in medieval and Arthurian legends. The influence of Christianity makes the grail "holy," originally because it was said to have been used at the Last Supper. Grail has a Medieval Latin root, gradalis, "flat dish."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grail Grail grails

Throughout his time, Hibs had a ruinous capacity to concede late goals that checked momentum and made the search for the holy grail of consistency all the harder.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

As a result those who have an energy fund in their retirement account, alongside stock and bond index funds, have enjoyed the investors’ holy grail: Bigger gains, and smoother returns.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026

Experts say the holy grail -- machines capable of independently reacting to the unpredictability of any real-life situation -- is a long way off for any company.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Even so, sonic adventurers, beginning with Leopold Stokowski in the 1930s, experimented with amplification in an obsessive, seemingly quixotic effort to locate a mythical sonic grail on the Cahuenga Pass.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

“Named after the knight of the Round Table who found the grail, right? Very cool.”

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

“This is a major hurdle and overcoming this barrier has been really the Holy Grail in neurology,” he says.

From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026

He co-directed The Holy Grail with Gilliam and also co-wrote the series Ripping Yarns with Palin, who he first met at Oxford University.

From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026

But just a few weeks later the test’s manufacturer, Grail, announced disappointing study results: the test didn’t reach statistical significance in later-stage cancers—stages 3 and 4.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026

Grail says there was a substantial increase in the number of stage-1 and 2 cancers detected in the NHS trial, but didn’t say if the increase reached statistical significance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026

"I can assure you the Holy Grail is quite safe in London," said Ishtar.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

On the subject of holy grails, there’s the first recording by Lenny Kaye, “Crazy Like A Fox,” released under the nom de guerre Link Cromwell.

From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026

One of the holy grails of trucking is to find a way to reduce the one-third of trips that big rigs are believed to spend hauling empty trailers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

“This has been one of the holy grails of remedying the Korean discount, and there’s at least a 50-50 chance of it passing this year,” he says.

From Barron's ● Dec. 31, 2025

But since then its ambition to track down two holy grails of physics - dark matter and dark energy - have proved elusive and some researchers believe there are cheaper options.

From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2024

They have been out after the things they wanted—golden fleeces, holy grails, lady loves, treasure, crowns and fame.

From The Four Million by O. Henry