ail
to cause pain, uneasiness, or trouble to: Inside our own bodies lies the most powerful cure for what ails us—our immune systems.He thinks lowering taxes is the answer to all that ails our economy.
to be unwell; feel pain; be ill: He's been ailing for some time.
Origin of ail
1Other words for ail
Words that may be confused with ail
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use ail in a sentence
Franklin took the Middle Tennessee job that same year, to be closer to his ailing mother.
A college football coach’s season at war with the coronavirus — and his own school | Kent Babb | January 19, 2021 | Washington PostAlthough the Paycheck Protection Program was intended to help ailing small businesses, it did not require evidence of losses.
Debt collectors, payday lenders collected over $500 million in federal pandemic relief | Peter Whoriskey, Joel Jacobs, Aaron Gregg | January 15, 2021 | Washington PostLast summer, after several years with the business, I resigned from my position to care full-time for my ailing parents.
Miss Manners: How to ask indirectly about a missing gift | Judith Martin, Nicholas Martin, Jacobina Martin | January 7, 2021 | Washington PostTheir immediate goal was to encourage the construction of new office buildings in the city’s ailing downtown, where much land sat undeveloped.
These Cities Tried to Tackle Disinvestment. Here Are Lessons From What Happened. | by Haru Coryne and Tony Briscoe | December 30, 2020 | ProPublicaMost recently ABG has purchased Brooks Brothers, Forever 21 and Barneys — all ailing for their own set of reasons.
How Authentic Brands Group has positioned itself as the 2020 repo man | jim cooper | December 30, 2020 | Digiday
It would be impossible to cure all that ailed the GOP in the course of a single calendar year.
GOP Report Turns One—Is it Worth Celebrating? | Kristen Soltis Anderson | March 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThere was no cure for whatever ailed my mother that anybody knew about at the time.
Richard Russo Talks About New Memoir “Elsewhere” And His Mother’s Illness | Jane Ciabattari | November 12, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTBut I always suspected it was a stratagem on his part to avoid playing, and that nothing really ailed him.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayBoth followed Edward out upon the veranda, asking anxiously what ailed mamma.
Elsie's Vacation and After Events | Martha FinleyAnne could not understand what ailed him, but feared some evil.
Emily Bront | A. Mary F. (Agnes Mary Frances) RobinsonMy father was struck with the change, and inquired what ailed him.
The man did not rally—and the professor could not say what ailed him.
British Dictionary definitions for ail
/ (eɪl) /
(tr) to trouble; afflict
(intr) to feel unwell
Origin of ail
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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