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.
Phrases and idioms:
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.
Derivatives:
wailer n. wailful adj. poet. wailingly adv.
Etymology: ME f. ON, rel. to WOE