HAIL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hail mean? 

• HAIL (noun)
  The noun HAIL has 3 senses:

1. precipitation of ice pellets when there are strong rising air currents

2. many objects thrown forcefully through the air

3. enthusiastic greeting

  Familiarity information: HAIL used as a noun is uncommon.

• HAIL (verb)
  The verb HAIL has 5 senses:

1. praise vociferously

2. be a native of

3. call for

4. greet enthusiastically or joyfully

5. precipitate as small ice particles

  Familiarity information: HAIL used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HAIL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Precipitation of ice pellets when there are strong rising air currents

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("hail" is a kind of...):

downfall; precipitation (the falling to earth of any form of water (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist))

Meronyms (parts of "hail"):

hailstone (small pellet of ice that falls during a hailstorm)

Derivation:

hail (precipitate as small ice particles)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Many objects thrown forcefully through the air

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Context example:

a hail of bullets

Hypernyms ("hail" is a kind of...):

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Enthusiastic greeting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("hail" is a kind of...):

greeting; salutation ((usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good will (especially on meeting))

Derivation:

hail (greet enthusiastically or joyfully)

• HAIL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they hail    ... he / she / it hails   
Past simple: hailed   
Past participle: hailed   
-ing form: hailing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Praise vociferously

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

acclaim; hail; herald

Context example:

The critics hailed the young pianist as a new Rubinstein

Hypernyms (to "hail" is one way to...):

applaud (express approval of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue hail the movie

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be a native of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

come; hail

Context example:

She hails from Kalamazoo

Hypernyms (to "hail" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Verb group:

come; derive; descend (come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for example)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Call for

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

hail a cab

Hypernyms (to "hail" is one way to...):

call; send for (order, request, or command to come)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Greet enthusiastically or joyfully

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

hail; herald

Hypernyms (to "hail" is one way to...):

greet; recognise; recognize (express greetings upon meeting someone)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

hail (enthusiastic greeting)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Precipitate as small ice particles

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Context example:

It hailed for an hour

Hypernyms (to "hail" is one way to...):

come down; fall; precipitate (fall from clouds)

Sentence frame:

It is ----ing

Sentence example:

It was hailing all day long

Derivation:

hail (precipitation of ice pellets when there are strong rising air currents)

 Context examples 

The dark man kept his eyes fixed on her, and when the carriage moved up Piccadilly he followed in the same direction, and hailed a hansom.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Next steps for the new machine learning model include testing it using storm observations and radar-estimated hail, with the goal of transitioning the model into operational use.

(Facial recognition technique could improve hail forecasts, National Science Foundation)

A shout from François hailed his appearance.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

He appears to me to have lived in a hail of saucepan-lids.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

She hailed it as an earnest of the most serious determination, and was equal even to encounter her father.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I remember how he forced the hunter and his two men below, a rifle at their breasts, when their captain passed by at biscuit-toss and hailed us for information.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Woe worth me then, and ill hail to these evil words!

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I carefully traced the windings of the land and hailed a steeple which I at length saw issuing from behind a small promontory.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

“Somebody hailing us,” said Hunter, who was on guard.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

They meant to take a long drive this morning; perhaps we may hail them from some of these hills.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)