ail

[ eyl ]

/ eɪl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ail ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to cause pain, uneasiness, or trouble to.

verb (used without object)

to be unwell; feel pain; be ill: He's been ailing for some time.

Nearby words

aiguillette, aih, aiken, aikido, aikona, ail, ailanthus, ailanthus silkworm, aileen, aileron, aileron roll

Origin of ail

before 950; Middle English ail, eilen, Old English eglan to afflict (cognate with Middle Low German egelen annoy, Gothic -agljan), derivative of egle painful; akin to Gothic agls shameful, Sanskrit aghám evil, pain

SYNONYMS FOR ail

1 bother, annoy, distress.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ail ON THESAURUS.COM

Can be confused

ale ail awl

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ailed

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|DAILY BEAST
Her hysterical caresses awakened him and the little fellow could not understand what ailed his mother.
Bengal Dacoits and Tigers|Maharanee Sunity Devee
Margery wondered what ailed them, till she remembered about John's "wood-collecting" evidence, and blushed suddenly at her folly.
The House by the River|A. P. Herbert
Then Gunnar besought her to be comforted and to show what ailed her, but for a long while he might win no word in answer.
The Story of Sigurd the Volsung|William Morris

The locksmith's wife knew better perhaps, than he, what ailed her daughter.
Barnaby Rudge|Charles Dickens
I always told you that not having enough of sunshine was what ailed the world.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou

British Dictionary definitions for ailed

ail

/ (eɪl) /

verb

(tr) to trouble; afflict

(intr) to feel unwell

Word Origin for ail

Old English eglan to trouble, from egle troublesome, painful, related to Gothic agls shameful

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

ail