hail

1
[ heyl ]
See synonyms for: hailhailedhailing on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to cheer, salute, or greet; welcome.

  2. to acclaim; approve enthusiastically: The crowds hailed the conquerors. They hailed the recent advances in medicine.

  1. to call out to in order to stop, attract attention, ask aid, etc.: to hail a cab.

verb (used without object)
  1. to call out in order to greet, attract attention, etc.: The people on land hailed as we passed in the night.

noun
  1. a shout or call to attract attention: They answered the hail of the marooned boaters.

  2. a salutation or greeting: a cheerful hail.

  1. the act of hailing.

interjection
  1. (used as a salutation, greeting, or acclamation.)

Verb Phrases
  1. hail from, to have as one's place of birth or residence: Nearly everyone here hails from the Midwest.

Idioms about hail

  1. within hail, within range of hearing; audible: The mother kept her children within hail of her voice.

Origin of hail

1
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English verb heilen, hailen, derivative of hail “healthy, sound,” from Old Norse heill; cognate with Old English hǣl; see heal, wassail

Other words for hail

Other words from hail

  • hailer, noun

Words Nearby hail

Other definitions for hail (2 of 2)

hail2
[ heyl ]

noun
  1. showery precipitation in the form of irregular pellets or balls of ice more than 0.2 inch (5 millimeters) in diameter, falling from a cumulonimbus cloud (distinguished from sleet).

  2. a shower or storm of such precipitation.

  1. a shower of anything: a hail of bullets.

verb (used without object)
  1. to pour down hail (often used impersonally with it as subject): It hailed this afternoon.

  2. to fall or shower as hail: Arrows hailed down on the troops as they advanced.

verb (used with object)
  1. to pour down on as or like hail: The plane hailed leaflets on the city.

Origin of hail

2
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun hail, haiel, ail, Old English hæg(e)l, hagol; cognate with German Hagel, Old Norse hagl

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hail in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hail (1 of 2)

hail1

/ (heɪl) /


noun
  1. small pellets of ice falling from cumulonimbus clouds when there are very strong rising air currents

  2. a shower or storm of such pellets

  1. words, ideas, etc, directed with force and in great quantity: a hail of abuse

  2. a collection of objects, esp bullets, spears, etc, directed at someone with violent force

verb
  1. (intr; with it as subject) to be the case that hail is falling

  2. (often with it as subject) to fall or cause to fall as or like hail: to hail criticism; bad language hailed about him

Origin of hail

1
Old English hægl; related to Old Frisian heil, Old High German hagal hail, Greek kakhlēx pebble

British Dictionary definitions for hail (2 of 2)

hail2

/ (heɪl) /


verb(mainly tr)
  1. to greet, esp enthusiastically: the crowd hailed the actress with joy

  2. to acclaim or acknowledge: they hailed him as their hero

  1. to attract the attention of by shouting or gesturing: to hail a taxi; to hail a passing ship

  2. (intr foll by from) to be a native (of); originate (in): she hails from India

noun
  1. the act or an instance of hailing

  2. a shout or greeting

  1. distance across which one can attract attention (esp in the phrase within hail)

sentence substitute
  1. poetic an exclamation of greeting

Origin of hail

2
C12: from Old Norse heill whole; see hale 1, wassail

Derived forms of hail

  • hailer, noun

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

Scientific definitions for hail

hail

[ hāl ]


  1. Precipitation in the form of rounded pellets of ice and hard snow that usually falls during thunderstorms. Hail forms when raindrops are blown up and down within a cloud, passing repeatedly through layers of warm and freezing air and collecting layers of ice until they are too heavy for the winds to keep them from falling.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for hail

hail

Pellets of ice that form when updrafts in thunderstorms carry raindrops to high altitudes, where the water freezes and then falls back to Earth. Hailstones as large as baseballs have been recorded. Hail can damage crops and property.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with hail

hail

In addition to the idiom beginning with hail

  • hail from

also see:

  • within call (hail)

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.