wail

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)
• COUNT in NET: 29 in 29 verses (in OT : 27 in 27 verses) (in NT : 2 in 2 verses)

CIDE DICTIONARY

wail, v. t. [Cf. Icel. val choice, velja to choose, akin to Goth. waljan, G. wählen.].

 To choose; to select.  Henryson.  [1913 Webster]

wail, v. t. [OE. wailen, weilen, probably fr. Icel. væla; cf. Icel. væ, vei, woe, and E. wayment, also OE. wai, wei, woe. Cf. Woe.].

 To lament; to bewail; to grieve over; as, to wail one's death.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

wail, v. i. 

 To express sorrow audibly; to make mournful outcry; to weep.  [1913 Webster]
"Therefore I will wail and howl."  Micah i. 8.  [1913 Webster]

wail, n. 

 Loud weeping; violent lamentation; wailing.  Longfellow.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

wail, n. & v.
--n.
1 a prolonged plaintive inarticulate loud high-pitched cry of pain, grief, etc.
2 a sound like or suggestive of this.
--v.
1 intr. utter a wail.
2 intr. lament or complain persistently or bitterly.
3 intr. (of the wind etc.) make a sound like a person wailing.
4 tr. poet. or rhet. bewail; wail over.

Idiom

Wailing Wall a high wall in Jerusalem said to stand on the site of Herod's temple, where Jews traditionally pray and lament on Fridays.

Derivative

wailer n. wailful adj. poet. wailingly adv.

Etymology

ME f. ON, rel. to WOE

THESAURUS

wail

bark, bawl, bay, bell, bellow, blare, blat, blate, bleat, blubber, boohoo, boom, bray, breathe, buzz, cackle, call, caterwaul, chant, chirp, coo, creak, crow, cry, cry out, dolorous tirade, drawl, exclaim, flute, fuss, gasp, give tongue, give voice, groan, growl, grunt, hiss, howl, jeremiad, keen, kick, lament, lilt, low, make an outcry, meow, mew, mewl, miaow, moan, moo, mumble, murmur, mutter, neigh, nicker, outcry, pant, pipe, plaint, planctus, pule, quest, repine, roar, rumble, screak, scream, screech, shriek, shrill, sibilate, sigh, sing, skirl, skreigh, snap, snarl, snort, sob, sough, squall, squawk, squeak, squeal, thunder, tirade, troat, trumpet, twang, ululate, ululation, wail of woe, warble, weep, whicker, whimper, whine, whinny, whisper, whistle, wrawl, yammer, yap, yawl, yawp, yell, yelp, yip, yowl

ROGET THESAURUS

wail

Lamentation

N lament, lamentation, wail, complaint, plaint, murmur, mutter, grumble, groan, moan, whine, whimper, sob, sigh, suspiration, heaving, deep sigh, cry, scream, howl, outcry, wail of woe, ululation, frown, scowl, tear, weeping, flood of tears, fit of crying, lacrimation, lachrymation, melting mood, weeping and gnashing of teeth, plaintiveness, languishment, condolence, mourning, weeds, willow, cypress, crape, deep mourning, sackcloth and ashes, lachrymatory, knell, deep death song, dirge, coronach, nenia, requiem, elegy, epicedium, threne, monody, threnody, jeremiad, jeremiade, ullalulla, mourner, grumbler, Noobe, Heraclitus, lamenting, in mourning, in sackcloth and ashes, sorrowing, sorrowful, mournful, tearful, lachrymose, plaintive, plaintful, querulous, querimonious, in the melting mood, threnetic, in tears, with tears in one's eyes, with moistened eyes, with watery eyes, bathed in tears, dissolved in tears, like Niobe all tears, elegiac, epicedial, de profundis, les larmes aux yeux, Int, heigh-ho!, alas!, alack!, O dear!, ah me!, woe is me!, lackadaisy!, well a day!, lack a day!, alack a day!, wellaway!, alas the day!, O tempora O mores!, what a pity!, miserabile dictu!, O lud lud!, too true!, tears standing in the eyes, tears starting from the eyes, eyes suffused, eyes swimming, eyes brimming, eyes overflowing with tears, if you have tears prepare to shed them now, interdum lacrymae pondera vocis habent, strangled his language in his tears, tears such as angels weep.

VB lament, mourn, deplore, grieve, weep over, bewail, bemoan, condole with, fret, wear mourning, go into mourning, put on mourning, wear the willow, wear sackcloth and ashes, infandum renovare dolorem, give sorrow words, sigh, give a sigh, heave, fetch a sigh, waft a sigh from Indus to the pole, sigh 'like a furnace', wail, cry, weep, sob, greet, blubber, pipe, snivel, bibber, whimper, pule, pipe one's eye, drop tears, shed tears, drop a tear, shed a tear, melt into tears, burst into tears, fondre en larmes, cry oneself blind, cry one's eyes out, yammer, scream, mew, groan, moan, whine, roar, roar like a bull, bellow like a bull, cry out lustily, rend the air, frown, scowl, make a wry face, gnash one's teeth, wring one's hands, tear one's hair, beat one's breast, roll on the ground, burst with grief, complain, murmur, mutter, grumble, growl, clamor, make a fuss about, croak, grunt, maunder, deprecate, cry out before one is hurt, complain without cause.