entail
Americanverb (used with object)
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entails,
present (3rd person singular)
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entailed,
past participle, past
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entailing
present participle
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to cause or involve by necessity or as a consequence.
a loss entailing no regret.
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to impose as a burden.
Success entails hard work.
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Law. to limit the passage of (real estate) to a specified line of heirs, so that it cannot be transferred or bequeathed to anyone else.
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Law. to cause (anything) to descend to a fixed series of possessors.
noun
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the act of entailing.
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Law. the state of being entailed.
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any predetermined order of succession, as to an office.
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Law. something that is entailed, as an estate.
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Law. the rule of descent settled for an estate.
verb
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to bring about or impose by necessity; have as a necessary consequence
this task entails careful thought
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property law to restrict (the descent of an estate) to a designated line of heirs
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logic to have as a necessary consequence
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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entailsimple
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entailssimple
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have entailedperfect
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has entailedperfect
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am entailingprogressive
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are entailingprogressive
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is entailingprogressive
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have been entailingperfect progressive
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has been entailingperfect progressive
Past
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entailedsimple
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had entailedperfect
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was entailingprogressive
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were entailingprogressive
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had been entailingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of entail
First recorded in 1350–1400; from Middle English entailen (verb), entail (noun), equivalent to en- 1 + tail 2 ( def. )
Explanation
To entail is to involve. A job at a movie theater might entail sweeping popcorn off the floor, probably because watching a movie entails eating popcorn in the dark. It’s a small price to pay! The word entail, which comes from Latin, is connected to the idea of preconditions. If you want something, you better figure out what it entails. If it’s only 8 o’clock and you want to see a movie at 9, that will entail waiting for an hour. If you want to stay out of trouble, that will entail calling your parents and letting them know you're going to be late. That’s what being responsible entails!
Vocabulary lists containing entail
List 7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That could entail a deeper trade agreement, consultation on regulation and the integration of some Canadian exporters into the EU supply chain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
In a newsy weekend on the AI front, CEO Sam Altman said OpenAI won’t target an initial public offering this year and noted that making AI safer will entail “significant costs.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
Omishakin said it is too soon to say how much California will invest in the effort, or how many chargers it will ultimately entail, although the number is probably in the hundreds if not higher.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
It is unclear what the disciplinary procedures against Foucher entail or how long they will last.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
How could I realize then what my promise would entail?
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
“Restricting exports is indeed a lever China can pull anytime, but it still entails economic costs,” said Tom Reed, head of oil market analysis at Argus Media, a price reporting agency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
The Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank says there is "relatively little detail" about what Reform's plan entails.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Another ruse is called ghost booking, which entails an employee booking conference rooms or workstations online to suggest they are in the office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
They had grandparents for the kids to stay with, so they did not go—as tens of thousands do each year—into state custody, with the many attendant traumas that entails.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
On the screen of her iPad, she plays a relatively primitive video game that entails identifying targets that at first appear in the middle of the screen but get farther out on the periphery.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
It entailed careful removal of the stone flooring to reveal the mechanicals beneath.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
Nobody scored more than 23 goals in the four seasons between 2018-19 and 2021-22, but the past four Golden Boots have all entailed between 27 and 36 goals.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
On Friday, the court's judges said the 2024 drone operation "entailed the use of South Korea's military capabilities for private purposes".
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
For Morris, stepping into the shoes of a Black journalist working during the Great Depression and in a still segregated reality entailed meaningful research.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
And he’d have some community service, which entailed doing a media interview, and talking to some schools.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
In recent years, a couple of local districts have rolled out pilot programs entailing the release of sterile male mosquitoes to drive the population down, a relatively new approach to tackling these mosquitoes.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2025
So, the fuel needs a larger percentage of this isotope, entailing higher uranium-235 enrichment than the 4 percent enriched LEU typically used in nuclear power plants.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 20, 2023
Often presenting well after the initial infection, post-acute infection syndrome manifests as a complex and variable disorder, typically entailing severe fatigue, gastrointestinal issues, confused sensory perception, and neurocognitive abnormalities.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2023
The new coalition government presented plans to step up climate protection efforts entailing far-reaching reforms for the utility sector and across manufacturing industries, buildings, transport and agriculture.
From Reuters ● Dec. 29, 2021
There are videos about the importance and difference of treble and bass clefs; there is a list of music terms and what they mean, and the site even contains videos entailing the transposition of music.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
