wail

 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++

Related topics: Colours & sounds

wail /weɪl/ verb  1  [transitive]SAY to say something in a loud, sad, and complaining way 大声哭叫；哀诉 ‘But what shall I do?’ Bernard wailed. “但我该怎么办呢？”伯纳德哭喊道。2  [intransitive]CRY to cry out with a long high sound, especially because you are very sad or in pain 〔尤指因悲伤或痛楚而〕恸哭，痛哭 Somewhere behind them a child began to wail. 有个孩子在他们身后的什么地方大哭起来。► see thesaurus at cry3  [intransitive]C to make a long high sound 呼啸，尖啸 The wind wailed in the chimney. 风灌进烟囱里呼呼作响。 —wail noun [countable] the wail of police sirens 警笛的尖啸→ See Verb table

Examples from the Corpus

wail• "The world is coming to an end!" the woman wailed.• Somewhere to the rear a child began to wail.• I begin to wail and Connie looks worried and returns with little funny steps to his corner.• He started wailing and crying and pulling at the corpses and had to be dragged away.• He wailed and gagged as people walked by.• Moza wailed, her voice hoarse with dread.• Better to leave your audience wailing in the dark, shaking their fists, some crying How?, others why?• I called Narendra and wailed into the phone.• People were wailing on the streets.• Gods, how those clods had wailed when they had seen his proud lion-masked visage!Origin wail (1200-1300) From a Scandinavian language

wail verbChinese  

sad, loud, a something say in to Corpus

wail
wail /weɪl/ verb1. [transitive] to say something in a loud, sad, and complaining way:
    ‘But what shall I do?’ Bernard wailed.
2. [intransitive] to cry out with a long high sound, especially because you are very sad or in pain:
    Somewhere behind them a child began to wail.
3. [intransitive] to make a long high sound:
    The wind wailed in the chimney.
—wail noun [countable]:
    the wail of police sirens
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ cry to produce tears from your eyes: Don’t cry – everything will be all right! | Men aren’t supposed to cry.
   ▪ cry your eyes out especially spoken to cry a lot and for a long time: I cried my eyes out when I watched ‘Titanic’.
   ▪ be in tears to be crying: By the end of his story, we were all in tears.
   ▪ be close to tears to be almost crying: You could see that she was close to tears.
   ▪ weep literary to cry, especially for a long time: His mother put her head on the table and wept.
   ▪ sob to cry, taking sudden loud breaths: I could hear someone sobbing in the next room.
   ▪ wail /weɪl/ to cry very loudly in a high voice: The baby started wailing for its mother.
   ▪ whimper /ˈwɪmpə $ -ər/ to cry quietly and weakly: She began rocking to and fro, whimpering softly.
   ▪ hold/fight back the tears to make a big effort not to cry: She told her story, struggling to hold back the tears.
   ▪ your eyes water if your eyes water, they have tears in them, for example because of smoke, wind, or when you are cutting onions: The onions were making my eyes water.