# hail

Pronunciation: say "HAYL" /heɪl/

## Noun

1. Small balls or pieces of ice that fall from clouds, often during a thunderstorm; a fall of such ice.
   - Simple: Small balls of ice that fall from the sky like rain, often in a storm.
   - _A sudden burst of hail stripped the leaves from the orchard trees._
   - _Farmers dread hail because it can flatten a ripe crop in minutes._
6. A large number of things, such as bullets, stones or questions, arriving fast and all at once.
   - Simple: A lot of things coming at you quickly, all at once, such as bullets or questions.
   - _The knights advanced under a hail of arrows from the castle walls._
   - _Reporters met the senator with a hail of difficult questions._

## Verb

2. To come from or originate in a particular place, family, or background, or to be based in a particular place.
   - Simple: To come from a certain place, family, or background.
   - _The author and her brothers hail from a long line of seafarers._
   - _Although she has lived in Chicago for years, her family hails from a small fishing town in Maine._
3. To greet or welcome someone or something with enthusiasm, or to praise them publicly as admirable, important, or successful.
   - Simple: To welcome or praise someone or something warmly and in public.
   - _Doctors around the world hailed the new treatment as the biggest breakthrough in decades._
   - _Historians hail the document as the foundation of modern law._
4. To signal to the driver of a bus, taxi, or other public vehicle, usually by waving, that you wish to board.
   - Simple: To wave or signal so a bus or taxi will stop and pick you up.
   - _Londoners routinely hail black cabs in the rain rather than book ahead._
   - _She hailed a bus at the request stop by waving her arm._
8. Of the weather or a cloud, to send down hail; for hail to fall.
   - Simple: When hail falls from the sky.
   - _It can hail even in the middle of summer when storms turn severe._
   - _The sky darkened and it began to hail against the windows._
7. To call out or signal to someone, such as a passer-by or a ship, to attract their attention or start communicating.
   - Simple: To call or wave to someone to get their attention or to start talking.
   - _The freighter hailed the coast guard to report engine trouble._
   - _Operators hail incoming ships to confirm their cargo._
9. To pour down rapidly and in quick succession.
   - Simple: To come down fast, one thing after another.
   - _Complaints hail down on the office every time prices rise._
   - _As the soldiers ran for cover, arrows hailed down on them from the castle walls._

## Interjection

5. An exclamation of respectful or reverent salutation, sometimes used as a familiar greeting. *(literary)*
   - Simple: An old, poetic way of greeting or honoring someone with respect.
   - _Hail, mighty queen, the people rejoice at your return._
   - _Hail and well met, traveler from distant lands._

## Adjective

10. In good health; whole and unharmed. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Healthy, whole, and free from harm.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To score a point in uppies and downies by tossing the ball up and down several times at the goal.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 6** — From Middle English hayle, from Old English hægl ("hail"), going back through Proto-West Germanic *hagl to Proto-Germanic *haglaz, whose ultimate origin is uncertain. It may come from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "pebble," or alternatively from a reduplicated root meaning "cold." It is related to Dutch hagel, German Hagel, Danish hagl, and Swedish hagel, all meaning "hail."
**Meanings 8–9** — From Middle English haylen, from Old English hagolian ("to hail"), through Proto-West Germanic *haglōn from Proto-Germanic *haglōną, formed from the noun for hail. It is related to Dutch hagelen, German hageln, and Swedish hagla, all meaning "to hail."
**Meanings 2–5, 7, 10** — Proto-Germanic *hailaz ("whole, healthy") gave Old Norse heill, which entered Middle English as heil ("healthy, sound") and became English hail. The verb developed from this adjective. Hail shares its origin with whole, hale, and heil, making these words doublets. Hail from began in sailors’ speech, describing a ship’s connection to its home port.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/hail (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).