HAIL


Meaning of HAIL in English

/ heɪl; NAmE / verb , noun

■ verb

1.

[ usually passive ] hail sb/sth (as) sth to describe sb/sth as being very good or special, especially in newspapers, etc. :

[ vn ]

The conference was hailed as a great success.

[ vn - n ]

Teenager Matt Brown is being hailed a hero for saving a young child from drowning.

2.

[ vn ] to signal to a taxi or a bus, in order to get the driver to stop :

to hail a taxi / cab

3.

[ vn ] ( literary ) to call to sb in order to say hello to them or attract their attention :

A voice hailed us from the other side of the street.

4.

[ v ] when it hails , small balls of ice fall like rain from the sky :

It's hailing!

PHRASAL VERBS

- hail from ...

■ noun

1.

[ U ] small balls of ice that fall like rain :

We drove through hail and snow.

2.

[ sing. ] a ~ of sth a large number or amount of sth that is aimed at sb in order to harm them :

a hail of arrows / bullets

a hail of abuse

••

WORD ORIGIN

noun and verb sense 4 Old English hagol , hægl (noun), hagalian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hagel and German Hagel .

verb senses 1 to 3 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 hale and whole .

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь для изучающик язык на продвинутом уровне.