hail1
/heɪl
/noun [mass noun]
1Pellets of frozen rain which fall in showers from cumulonimbus clouds: rain and hail bounced on the tiled roof...
- Estimates of the amount of rain and hail which fell on Tuesday ranged from 30 mm to 75 mm in 15 minutes.
- Thunderstorms sometimes drop balls of ice known as hail in addition to rain.
- Weather conditions could hardly have been worse for the event with a strong biting wind and frequent wintry showers of rain and hail putting a damper on proceedings.
Synonyms
frozen rain, hailstones, sleet, precipitation;
hailstorm, hail shower
1.1 [in singular] A large number of things hurled forcefully through the air: a hail of bullets...
- Firefighters came under attack from a hail of stones hurled by children as young as 10.
- The trickle of arrows became a hail of missiles, then, hurled with deadly accuracy.
- She grabbed the bucket and, amid a hail of artillery fire, crossed the battery to the well.
Synonyms
barrage, volley, shower, deluge, torrent, burst, stream, storm, flood, spate, rain, tide, avalanche, blaze, onslaught;
bombardment, cannonade, battery, blast, broadside, salvo
verb [no object]
1 (it hails, it is hailing, etc.) Hail falls: it hailed so hard we had to stop...
- I rush round closing all the windows and notice it is hailing.
- Yesterday it hailed so hard it looked like snow.
- It was raining and hailing, the weather was very poor.
Synonyms
beat, shower, rain, fall, pour, drop;
pelt, pepper, batter, bombard, volley, assail
2 [with adverbial of direction] (Of a large number of objects) fall or be hurled forcefully: missiles and bombs hail down from the sky
Origin
Old English hagol, hægl (noun), hagalian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hagel and German Hagel.
wassail from Middle English:
In the Middle Ages wassail was a drinking toast that literally meant ‘Be in good health’. The polite reply was drinkhail, ‘Drink good health’. Both words come from Old Norse, and were probably introduced by Danish-speaking inhabitants of England. By the 12th century they were considered by the Normans to be characteristic of Englishmen: in a work of 1190 the English students at the university of Paris are praised for generosity and other virtues, but are said to be too much addicted to ‘wassail’ and ‘drinkhail’. The second half of each toast is related to the Old English words hale (Old English), as in hale and hearty, hail (Middle English) to greet’, and whole (Old English).
Rhymes
hail2
/heɪl/verb
1 [with object] Call out to (someone) to attract attention: I hailed her in English...
- I may bridle at the strange young thing who rings up out of the blue and breezily hails me by my first name but it does not help when the company she represents can only be reached through her.
- A dive master hails me from a nearby floating group, ‘Any idea what that was?’
- One of them hails me at the fuel pump in order to report that her sister has tried to read the book.
Synonyms
greet, salute, address, halloo, speak to, call out to, shout to, say hello to, initiate a discussion with, talk to;
nod to, wave to, smile at, signal to, lift one's hat to, acknowledge;
accost, approach, waylay, stop, catch
informal collar, buttonhole
British informal nobble
1.1Signal (an approaching taxi) to stop: she raised her hand to hail a cab...
- If I want the views of a cab driver I'll hail a taxi, thanks.
- Keeping in mind that the fact that I was female, alone and in one of the worst neighborhoods in New York I hailed a Taxi cab that was in desperate need of a car wash.
- Finally the security hailed a taxi cab and pushed us in and it drove away.
Synonyms
flag down, wave down, signal to stop, gesture to stop, make a sign to;
call to, shout to;
summon, accost
2 [with object] Praise (someone or something) enthusiastically: he has been hailed as the new James Dean...
- On the one hand it was hailed as groundbreaking and praised for encouraging debate.
- However, the fourth Sunday of Lent was hailed as a day for honouring mothers, when servants would have the day off and be encouraged to return home.
- They were then ushered into the airport's arrivals terminal where they were hailed as heroes by fans who had turned up to welcome the athletes home.
Synonyms
acclaim, praise, applaud, commend, rave about, extol, eulogize, vaunt, hymn, lionize, express approval of, express admiration for, pay tribute to, speak highly of, sing the praises of, make much of;
glorify, cheer, salute, exalt, honour, hurrah, hurray, toast, welcome, pay homage to
British informal big up
North American informal ballyhoo
dated cry up
archaic emblazon
rare laud, panegyrize
3 [no object] (hail from) Have one’s home or origins in (a place): they hail from Turkey...
- Gladys, a former mill worker, originally hails from Castleford but has lived in Haworth for most of her life.
- Wayne originally hails from Wexford and has lived in Sligo for almost ten years.
- Humble origin and hailing from a small town of Kakinada do not appear to deter him.
Synonyms
come from, be from, be a native of, have been born in, originate in, have one's roots in;
be … (by birth);
live in, have one's home in, inhabit, be an inhabitant of, be settled in, reside in, be a resident of
exclamation archaic
Expressing greeting or acclaim: hail, Caesar!...
- Hail, ye lone voices in the wilderness!
- Hail good citizens!
- Hail, good old stranger!
noun
A shout or call used to attract attention.Include as many hails of derisive laughter in your answer as possible....
- We have received your hails and are willing to accept you and any wounded, so long as you disarm and power down.
- The Radar has just entered out jurisdiction and is not responding to our hails.
Synonyms
greeting, hello, hallo, halloo, call, cry, shout, salutation;
acknowledgement, welcome, salute
Phrases
within hail
Derivatives
hailer
- Protesters may follow the hunt, on condition that loud trumpets, drums and hailers are replaced by muted clarinets or harps.
- Student strikes are disrupting college campuses, where old protest anthems like ‘We Shall Overcome’ mix with the tinny sound of speeches belted out over load hailers.
- The street vendors, the business suits on smoke breaks, the cell phones, the cab hailers, the noises.
Origin
Middle English: from the obsolete adjective hail 'healthy' (occurring in greetings and toasts, such as wæs hæil: see wassail), from Old Norse heill, related to hale1 and whole.