MEANING
To make a long, high cry of pain, grief, or alarm.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- wail in grief
- siren wail
On the page
A siren wailed beyond the warehouses.
Word forms
- Base
- wail
- Past tense
- wailed
- Past participle
- wailed
- Present participle
- wailing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- wail
- Present continuous
- am/is/are wailing
- Present perfect
- have/has wailed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been wailing
- Past
- wailed
- Past continuous
- was/were wailing
- Past perfect
- had wailed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been wailing
- Future
- will wail
- Future continuous
- will be wailing
- Future perfect
- will have wailed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been wailing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: sensory / description. Forms: wail; wails; wailed; wailed; wailing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: wails.
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