hail
/heil/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- Precipitation of ice pellets: Small, hard balls of ice that fall from the sky during some thunderstorms.
- A large number of things thrown or sent forcefully: A rapid, dense succession of similar things, often unpleasant.
Verb:
- (It) precipitates as hail: Used with "it" as the subject to describe the weather phenomenon of hail falling.
- To greet or welcome enthusiastically: To call out to or acknowledge someone, especially publicly and with approval.
- To call for or signal to stop: To attract the attention of, typically a vehicle like a taxi.
- To originate or come from: To have one's birthplace or background in a specific place.
- To praise publicly and enthusiastically: To acclaim or celebrate someone or something.
Usage Examples
Noun:
- The sudden hail damaged the car's windshield.
- The speaker faced a hail of criticism from the audience.
Verb:
- Look at the sky! I think it's going to hail.
- Fans gathered to hail the returning champion.
- She stepped to the curb to hail a taxi.
- He hails from a small town in the Midwest.
- The new policy was hailed as a major breakthrough.
Advanced Usage
"Within hail": Within calling distance; close enough to be heard.
- The boat was still within hail, so we could shout instructions.
"Hail-fellow-well-met" (idiomatic adjective): Describes a person who is superficially friendly and hearty.
- His hail-fellow-well-met manner didn't convince everyone of his sincerity.
Variants and Related Words
- Hailstone (n): A single pellet of hail.
- A large hailstone cracked the window.
Synonyms
- Noun (ice): Ice pellets, frozen rain.
- Noun (volley): Barrage, volley, shower, torrent.
- Verb (greet): Acclaim, salute, applaud, cheer.
- Verb (call): Summon, flag down, signal.
- Verb (originate): Come from, originate from, be from.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Hail down (upon) : To fall or be directed forcefully and in great quantity.
- Protesters hailed down insults upon the politician.
Related Idioms
"Hail Mary" (American Football): A very long, desperate pass made at the end of a game. More generally, a desperate last attempt.
- With only seconds left, the quarterback threw a Hail Mary pass.
"Hail-fellow-well-met": (See Advanced Usage).
Noun
- enthusiastic greeting
- many objects thrown forcefully through the air
- a hail of pebbles
- a hail of bullets
- precipitation of ice pellets when there are strong rising air currents
Verb
- precipitate as small ice particles
- It hailed for an hour
- greet enthusiastically or joyfully
- call for
- hail a cab
- be a native of
- She hails from Kalamazoo
- praise vociferously
- The critics hailed the young pianist as a new Rubinstein