entail

[ verb en-teyl; noun en-teyl, en-teyl ]

/ verb ɛnˈteɪl; noun ɛnˈteɪl, ˈɛn teɪl /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR entail ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to cause or involve by necessity or as a consequence: a loss entailing no regret.

to impose as a burden: Success entails hard work.

Law. to limit the passage of (a landed estate) to a specified line of heirs, so that it cannot be alienated, devised, or bequeathed.

Law. to cause (anything) to descend to a fixed series of possessors.

noun

the act of entailing.

Law. the state of being entailed.

any predetermined order of succession, as to an office.

Law. something that is entailed, as an estate.

Law. the rule of descent settled for an estate.

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Origin of entail

1350–1400; Middle English entailen (v.), entail (noun). See en-¹, tail²

OTHER WORDS FROM entail

en·tail·er, nounen·tail·ment, nounnon·en·tailed, adjectivepre·en·tail, verb (used with object)

un·en·tailed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for entail

When one thinks of that, and the responsibility it entailed, it makes the hairs on the back of the neck move.
Blood in the Sand: When James Jones Wrote a Grunt’s View of D-Day|James Jones|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Twice in the past two weeks, this has entailed meeting a plane on the runway to retriever sick passengers who may be infected.
Ebola Panic Is Worse Than the Disease|Abby Haglage|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I guess they were rightly afraid of what they might have heard, of what the answering might have entailed for us all.
Possessed by PTSD, A Veteran Uses Exorcisms to Cast Out His Demons|Brian Van Reet|February 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Enlightened liberalism, you see, entailed a certain courtesy, precision, evidence, reasoning.
Tony Lewis, American, Jew, Remembered|Bernard Avishai|October 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The recession, and all it entailed—unemployment, stagnating wages, etc.—surely played a part.
Young Americans Are Abandoning Car Ownership and Driving|William O’Connor|July 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I have very little to dispose of; it is almost all entailed property.
Guy Livingstone;|George A. Lawrence
That entailed enormous and needless expense in addition to the delay.
A Captain in the Ranks|George Cary Eggleston
There is one comfort—I believe she hates it as much as I do; but it is not entailed property—he can leave it all away from her.'
Heriot's Choice|Rosa Nouchette Carey
Why, the property is all entailed, and he will scarcely have a half-penny, for his mother brought no money to the Arnotts.
Smith and the Pharaohs, and Other Tales|Henry Rider Haggard
This was a sad legacy, entailed on the young monarch by his father's ambition.
History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain.|William H. Prescott

British Dictionary definitions for entail

entail

/ (ɪnˈteɪl) /

verb (tr)

to bring about or impose by necessity; have as a necessary consequencethis task entails careful thought

property law to restrict (the descent of an estate) to a designated line of heirs

logic to have as a necessary consequence

noun

property law

the restriction imposed by entailing an estate
an estate that has been entailed

Derived forms of entail

entailer, noun

Word Origin for entail

C14: entaillen, from en- 1 + taille limitation, tail ²

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

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entail

verb (used with object)

noun

QUIZZES

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Origin of entail

OTHER WORDS FROM entail

Example sentences from the Web for entail

British Dictionary definitions for entail

verb (tr)

noun

Derived forms of entail

Word Origin for entail

MEANINGS

WORD GAMES

LEARN

WRITING

WORD OF THE DAY

entail

verb (used with object)

noun

QUIZZES

CAN YOU GUESS THESE WORDS FROM AROUND THE US?

Origin of entail

OTHER WORDS FROM entail

Words related to entail

Example sentences from the Web for entail

British Dictionary definitions for entail

verb (tr)

noun

Derived forms of entail

Word Origin for entail