Definition

1. Verb (transitive):

   • To cause physical pain, discomfort, or illness to someone; to afflict with sickness or suffering.
   • To trouble or distress someone, often in a mental or emotional sense.

2. Verb (intransitive):

   • To be ill, unwell, or in poor health.
   • To experience trouble or difficulty.

Usage and Examples

• Verb (transitive):

  • The persistent cough began to ail him. (The cough caused him physical discomfort or illness.)
  • What is it that ails the company? (What is troubling or distressing the company?)

• Verb (intransitive):

  • She has been ailing for weeks. (She has been unwell for weeks.)
  • The economy continues to ail. (The economy continues to be in a poor state.)

Advanced Usage

• "What ails you?": A formal or literary way to ask "What is wrong with you?" or "What is troubling you?" This can refer to physical illness or a source of distress.
  • You seem so quiet today. What ails you?

Variants and Related Words

• Ailment (noun): A minor illness or physical disorder.
  • He complained of various minor ailments.

Synonyms

• Afflict (verb): To cause suffering or unhappiness.
• Trouble (verb): To cause distress or worry.
• Bother (verb): To cause mild annoyance or worry.

Notes on Usage

• The verb ail is considered somewhat formal or literary in modern English. In everyday speech, words like "bother," "trouble," or "be wrong with" are more common for the transitive sense, and "be ill/sick" or "be unwell" are more common for the intransitive sense.
• It is most frequently encountered in the fixed question "What ails you?" or in descriptive contexts about persistent poor health (e.g., , ).

Noun

1. aromatic bulb used as seasoning

Verb

1. cause bodily suffering to and make sick or indisposed
2. be ill or unwell