▪ I. hail, n.1
(heɪl)
Forms: α. 1 haᵹol, -al, -el, 3 haȝel, hawel, haul, 4 haghil, 4–5 hawle, haule. β. 1 hæᵹl, hæᵹel, heᵹel, 3– hail, (3 ail), 4–6 hayl(e, 4–7 haile, 5 hayll(e, hayel. γ. 7–9 (dial.) haggle.
[Com. Teut.: OE. haᵹol (-al, -el), and hæᵹl (hæᵹel):—WGer. *hagal, *hagl: cf. OFris. heyl (:—hegl), MDu. haghel, Du. hagel, OHG. hagal, MHG. and Ger. hagel, all masc., ON. hagl neut. (Sw., Da. hagel):—OTeut. *hag(a)lo-; perh. cognate with Gr. καχλ- in κάχληξ pebble; cf. the notion in hailstone. The two OE. types haᵹol and hæᵹl, gave the respective ME. types hawel, hawl, and hæil, hayl, hail, of which the former was southern and came down to the 15th c. Beside these a third type haggle directly form Norse, survives in Yorkshire dialect.]
1. Ice or frozen vapour falling in pellets or masses in a shower from the atmosphere. (In spring and summer most frequently occurring in connexion with a thunderstorm.)
| α a 1000 Boeth. Metr. xxix. 127 Ren æfter þæm, swylce haᵹal and snaw. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 192 Swa micel ðunor and haᵹol becom on ðam leodscipe. c 1205 Lay. 11975 Haȝel & ræin þer aræs. Ibid. 20504 Swa hahȝel [c 1275 þe hawel] deð from wolcne. a 1300 Fragm. Pop. Sc. (Wright) 216 Hi al i-frore ben, Thanne hit is hawel [v.r. hawl] pur. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xvii. 14 Haghil and coles of fire. 1382 Wyclif Exod. ix. 29 Thundres shulen ceese, and hawle [1388 hail] shal not be. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. (E.E.T.S.) 198 God keste ham dovne wyth grete Stonys of hawle..And moche Pepill more were dede by the haule, than by Swerde. |
| β c 825 Vesp. Psalter xvii[i]. 13 Heᵹel & colu fyres. a 1000 Phœnix 60 Þær ne hæᵹl ne hrim hreosað to foldan. a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 808 (Gr.) Cymeþ hæᵹles scur. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3046 Ðhunder, and hail, and leuenes fir. Ibid. 3183 Oc ðe ail haued so wide spiled, ðat his graue is ðorvnder hiled. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De. P.R. vi. xxi. (1495) 210 Water molten of snowe and of hayel is erthly. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 42 Then in this middle region I suppose all Haile, Snow, and suche like is ingendrid. 1638 Wilkins New World i. (1684) 130 Thinking (as the Proverb is) that he may use Hail, when he hath no Thunder. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 1144 Down comes a deluge of sonorous hail. 1868 Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art ii. 104 I have seen the hail fall in Italy till the forest branches stood stripped and bare. |
| γ [see hailstone.] |
2. With a and pl. A shower or storm of hail; now usually hail-storm, hail-shower.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxix. §13 Hæᵹlas and snawas and se oft ræda ren leccaþ ða eorþan on wintra. a 1300 Cursor M. 6019 A thonor wit an haile. 1382 Wyclif Wisd. xvi. 16 With newe watris, and hailis, and reynes, they suffreden persecucioun. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 93 In hailes or tempestis. 1601 Shakes. All's Well v. iii. 33, I am not a day of season, For thou maist see a sunshine, and a haile In me at once. 1788 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 458 A very considerable portion of this country has been desolated by a hail. |
† b. A pellet of hail, a hailstone. Obs.
| a 1625 Fletcher Mad Lover iv. ii, My head heavy With hails and frosty icicles. 1697 Phil. Trans. XIX. 580 Some of the Hail were Eight Inches about. |
3. transf. and fig. A storm, shower, or volley of something falling like hail, esp. of shot.
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. i. 244. 1597 ― Lover's Compl. 310 That not a heart which in his level came Could 'scape the hail of his all-hurting aim. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 589 Chaind Thunderbolts and Hail of Iron Globes. 1728 Pope Dunc. iii. 262 'Mid snows of paper, and fierce hail of pease. 1893 W. Forbes-Mitchell Remin. Gt. Mutiny 60 A perfect hail of round-shot assailed us. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as hail-shower; hail-like, hail-stricken adjs. Also hail-shot, -stone, -storm.
| a 1000 Andreas 1259 (Gr.) Veder coledon heardum hæᵹel⁓scurum. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles i. 26 That neuere had harnesse, ne hayle schouris. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 388 With an haile-like storme of stones Kild him. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. vi. (1873) 116 Having finished our dinner of hail-stricken meat. |
▪ II. † hail, n.2 Chiefly north. Obs.
Forms: 3–4 hayl, 3–6 hail, 4–5 haylle, 4–6 haile, hayle, 5 haille, heylle, 5–6 heyle.
[a. ON. heill health, prosperity, good luck, cognate with OE. hǽl: see heal n.]
1. Health, safety, welfare. In northern ME. taking the place of the native Eng. hele, heal.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 3272 (Dubl.) When on athyll was so wele in happe and in heyle. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 73 I am Lord and lech of heyle. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 547 To se his heyle his comfort was the mor. 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 45 The maist part of vs hes gude hail in our body. |
b. to drink (a person's) hail: a modification of the phrase drink-hail, q.v.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 118 He..custe hire..and glad dronk hire hail. |
2. With defining words: evil † hail, ill † hail, wroth hail, bad luck, misfortune; often used adverbially, with the adj. in dative fem. or some representative thereof: to (one's) hurt, unfortunately, disastrously. Cf. heal n., hale n.1 in similar use.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6583 Ful iuel hail [v.r. ille hayl] brak yee þe dai. Ibid. 7320 Ful ilhail [v.r. ill a hayle] sal þai it se. Ibid. 7335 Þis saul haue þai mad þair king..Ful wreþerhail [v. rr. wraþer haile, wroþerhele] to þair behoue. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 2590 Morgan..wroughte hym self to wroþer haylle. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 169 Ilhayl, by god Aleyn thou is a fonne. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5880 Þir robbours wand vp þair sayle To þe hey se with euel hayle. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 61 Wyth yl a haylle! Ibid. 89 Ha, ha, goder⁓haylle!..this is good for the frost. ? c 1475 Sqr. lowe Degre 299 Alas! it tourned to wroth-hir-heyle. a 1529 Skelton Elynour Rummyng 618 God gyve it yll hayle! |
▪ III. hail, n.3
[A later subst. use of hail int., and n. of action f. hail v.2]
1. An exclamation of ‘hail!’; a (respectful) greeting or salutation.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxiii. 1 As ȝung Aurora, with cristall haile. a 1667 Cowley On Virgin Wks. 1711 III. 53 An Hail to all, let us An Hail return. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 385 The Angel Haile Bestow'd, the holy salutation us'd Long after to blest Marie, second Eve. 1870 Daily News 30 Dec., His hail was pleasant, and we bade him ‘Good-bye and good luck’. |
2. The act of hailing some one; a shout of welcome; a shout or call to attract attention.
| 1811 Wordsw. Ep. to Sir G. H. Beaumont 207 Whence the blithe hail? behold a Peasant stand On high, a kerchief waving in her hand! 1833 H. Martineau Vanderput & S. i. 1 The hail of the pilots or the quay-keepers. 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. iii. xiv, I could hear hails coming and going between the old buccaneer and his comrades. |
b. Phr. within hail: within call, near enough to be hailed; so out of hail, beyond call. Originally nautical phrases.
| 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. 191 When we came within hale, we found that they were English. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. iv. 163 The vessel came within hail of us. 1825 Scott Fam. Lett. 16 May (1894) II. 267 Your late remove has brought you a good deal more within hail, as the sailors say. 1836 W. Irving Astoria I. 86 Warning them..not to wander away nor be out of hail. |
3. attrib., as hail-peal, a peal of salutation or call.
| 1568 Hist. Jacob & Esau i. i. in Hazl. Dodsley II. 192 To give my neighbors louts an hail-peal in a morn. |
▪ IV. hail, n.4 Sc.
[f. hail v.3]
1. orig. (At hand-ball, etc.) The act of saluting the dool or goal with the exclamation ‘hail!’, when it is hit by the ball; hence, the act of hailing or driving the ball to the dool or goal; a ‘goal’ or victory in one game or round. In phrases, to give the hail, to win a hail or so many hails.
| a 1673 Wedderburn Voc. 37 (Jam.) Transmittere metam pila, to give the hail. Hic primus est transmissus, this is the first hail. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 66 (Jam.) The hails is wun. 1861 J. F. Campbell Tales W. Highl. (1892) III. 10 They went to play shinny and Jain won three hales. |
2. transf. Each of the two goals at hand-ball, football, shinty, and the like.
| 1843 Hardy in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. No. 11. 58 The hails, or boundaries of the game, were the..fishing hamlet of Headchesters as one terminus, and the conical height of Hoggeslaw..as the other. 1880 Boys' Own Book 130 These posts are the hail or goal. |
▪ V. hail, n.5
dial. var. of ail n.2, the awn of barley.
| 1880 Jefferies Gt. Estate 8 The black knots on the delicate barley straw were beginning to be topped with the hail..the hail is the beard of the barley. |
▪ VI. † hail, a. Obs.
Forms: 3 hæil, 3–4 heil, 3–8 hail, 3–5 heyl(e, 4–7 haile, hayl(e, 5 hayll(e.
[a. ON. heill hale, sound, whole = OE. hál:—OTeut. *hailo-, hailā-: see hale and whole. A ME. equivalent of the northern hale and the midl. and southern hôl, whole.]
1. Free from injury, infirmity, or disease; sound, unhurt, safe; healthy, robust; = hale, whole.
| c 1205 Lay. 12528 Wunieð her hal and hæil. c 1220 Bestiary 366 Al heil and sund. a 1300 Cursor M. 3829–30 He es bath hail and fere, Ya hail and sound, wit-outen were. c 1330 Amis & Amil. 2232 Y might aschape out of mi wo, Al hayl and hole to be. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 233/1 Heyl fro sekenesse, sanus. 1573 Tusser Husb. xv. (1878) 33 Let timber be haile, least profit doe quaile. 1673 A. Walker Leez Lachrymans 3 The hayl Constitution, the graceful Fashion..of his Youth. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Jaundice, The Water of a Young Child that's hail. |
b. fig. Sound, wholesome; pure, uncorrupted.
| 13.. K. Alis. 7036 [He] tok counsaile, That him n'as neither god ne haile. c 1460 Battle of Otterbourne 92 in Percy's Reliq., He durste not loke on my bred banner, For all Ynglonde so haylle. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. To Rdr., To shew that a Book..might be understandingly and roundly written, in hail and clear English. |
2. In phr. hail be thou, etc. used as a salutation expressing well-wishing or reverence. Hence (in part) hail int., q.v.
| c 1205 Lay. 14309 Lauerd king, wæs hæil! Ibid. 29030 Hail seo þu Gurgmund..hail þine drihtliche men. a 1300 Sat. People Kildare vi. in E.E.P. (1862) 153 Hail be ȝe freris wiþ þe white copis. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 204 Heil be þou, marie, ful of grace. 1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) i. iv. 36/1 Hayle be thou our kynge. |
3. Whole, entire. all hail: cf. all-whole.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22306 Turn þam till his trouth al hail. a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 56 ‘Dame’, he sede, ‘þis hail is þin, Þat win and þat gold eke.’ |
▪ VII. hail, v.1
(heɪl)
Forms: α. 1 haᵹalian, 3 hauli, 4 haweli. β. 4–7 hayle, 7 haile, 6– hail. γ. 7–9 (dial.) haggle.
[OE. haᵹalian:—OTeut. *hag(a)-lôjan: in ON. hagla, MHG. haglen, hagelen, Ger. hageln, Du. hagelen, from the n. The north. dial. haggle is from ON. See hail n.1]
1. intr. a. Impersonally: it hails = hail falls.
| α c 893 K. ælfred Oros. iii. v. §1 On sumre tide hit haᵹalade stanum ofer ealle Romane. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 198/37 Hit bi-gan to þondri and hauli. c 1300 St. Brandan 32 Hit began to haweli faste. |
| β c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 665/6 Grandinat, hayles. 1483 Cath. Angl. 169/2 To Hayle, grandinare. 1530 Palsgr. 130 Il grésle, it hayleth. 1611 Bible Isa. xxxii. 19 When it shall haile, comming downe on the forest. 1631 Widdowes Nat. Philos. 19 It hayleth most in Autumne and in the Spring. 1686 Goad Celest. Bodies ii. viii. 263 It Hails most in the Wine-Countries. Mod. Does it still hail? |
| γ 1674 Ray N.C. Words 23 It Haggles: It hails. Var. Dial. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘It both haggl'd and snow'd’. 1892 M. C. F. Morris Yorksh. Folk-t. 319 ‘It haggled heavy t'last neet’. |
b. With subject: (a) To pour or send down hail.
| c 1398 Chaucer Fortune 62 The welkne hath myht to shyne, reyne, or hayle. 1535 Coverdale Exod. ix. 23 The Lorde hayled and rayned vpon the londe of Egipte. |
(b) To fall as hail.
| 1859 [see hailing vbl. n. below]. 1879 C. F. Hoffman Monterey in Poems of Places, Br. America 143 Now here, now there, the shot it hailed In deadly drifts of fiery spray. |
2. trans. To pour down as hail; to throw or send down in a shower with considerable force like hail in a storm.
| 1570 Dee Math. Pref. 35 Such huge Stones..did he with his engynes hayle among them. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. i. 243 He hail'd downe oathes that he was onely mine. 1607 ― Ant. & Cl. ii. v. 45 Ile set thee in a shower of Gold, and haile Rich Pearles vpon thee. 1847 Tennyson Princ. Prol. 155 Walter hail'd a score of names upon her. 1886 Stevenson Dr. Jekyll iii. (ed. 2) 37 Hailing down a storm of blows. |
Hence ˈhailing vbl. n. (in first quot. concr.).
| 1538 Bale Thre Lawes 1841 Lyghtenynges and haylynges destroyed their corne. 1859 Ruskin Two Paths §12 The hailing of the shot and the shriek of battle. |
▪ VIII. hail, v.2
(heɪl)
Forms: 3–6 haile, hayle, (3 haille, Orm. heȝȝlenn), 4–5 heile, 5 heyle, 7–8 hale, 7– hail.
[An early deriv. of hail n.2 and int. which has superseded hailse v.]
1. trans. To salute with ‘hail!’; to salute, greet; to receive with expressions of gladness, to welcome.
| c 1200 Ormin 2814 He wollde swa Allmahhtiȝ Drihhtin heȝȝlenn. c 1205 Lay. 14968 Þus hailede him on þe swicfulle wimman; Lauerd king, wæshail. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ix. 10 Ich heilede hem hendeli. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 233/1 Heylyn, or gretyn, saluto. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xx. i, They hayled, Wyth a greate peale of gunnes, at theyr departyng, The marvaylous toure of famous cunnynge. 1725 C. Pitt Vida's Art of Poetry i. (R.), The ravish'd crowds shall hail their passing lord. 1804 [see hail int.]. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. ii. 183 In Scotland the restoration of the Stuarts had been hailed with delight. |
b. With complement (with or without as).
| 1671 Milton Samson 354 Such a Son as all Men hail'd me happy. 1738 Glover Leonidas i. 396 Extol and hail him as their guardian god. 1807 G. Chalmers Caledonia I. iii. vii. 416 The second witch hailed him thane of Cawdor. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus iii. 6 A bird that ever hail'd her Lady mistress. |
† 2. intr. To address a salutation to; to drink a health to. Obs. rare.
| c 1275 Lay. 18573 For þe king him louede ase his lif, and haylede to his wif. |
3. To call or shout to (a ship, a person, etc.) from a distance, in order to attract attention. (Originally and chiefly in nautical use.)
| 1563 Gresham in Burgon Life (1839) II. 42 The instant we hadd one hayled another, there rose up soche a great storme. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia iv. 128 We anchored..and in friendly manner sent to hale them. 1692 Capt. Smith's Seaman's Gram. i. xvi. 78 To hail a Ship..is done after this manner, Hôa the Ship! or only Hôa! To which they answer Hâe. Also to salute another Ship with Trumpets or the like, is called Hailing. 1726 G. Roberts Four Years Voy. 343 Two of them came down to the Sea Side and haled us; I answered, and told them who I was. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones viii. xii, I heard a voice on a sudden haling me with great familiarity by my Christian name. 1857 Longfellow Daybreak 3 It hailed the ships, and cried, ‘Sail on’. 1891 Spectator 22 Aug., The ignominy of being refused by cabs and omnibuses that he has hailed himself. |
4. intr. or absol. To call out in order to attract attention. (Formerly with to; now only absol.)
to hail aloft, ‘to call to men in the tops and at the mast-head to look out’ (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.); to hail for a trip (U.S. colloq.), ‘to state the quantity of the catch during a fishing voyage’ (Cent. Dict.).
| 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. ii. 7 He..hasted to the water side, and hailed to our ships. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. in Farr S.P. Jas. I (1848) 190 Unto her sonne she hails. 1798 Millar in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1846) VII. p. clv, Captain Berry hailed as we passed. 1888 B. W. Richardson Son of a Star I. xiv. 220 A troop of slaves gorgeously dressed, and hailing and shouting as they turned their faces to the rider. |
b. to hail from (a place): said of a vessel in reference to the port from which she has sailed; hence transf. of a person, to come from.
| 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) I. i. 2 The country from which he hails. 1873 Black Pr. Thule xxiv. 397 Ships and sailors hailing from these distant shores. 1888 M. Robertson Lombard St. Myst. x, Most of the pupils hailed from France. |
▪ IX. hail, v.3 Sc.
(heɪl)
Also 8 hale.
[app. a special use of hail v.2, originating with the phrase to hail the dool, i.e. to greet or salute the goal with the exclamation hail! when striking it with the ball.]
In phrase to hail the dool, to reach or strike the goal, to win the goal; to hail the ball, to throw or drive the ball to the goal, to win the goal.
| a 1550 Christis Kirke Gr. xxii, Fresch men cam in and hail'd the dulis. 1783 Tytler Poet. Rem. Jas. I, 187 (Jam. s.v. Dule) When the [foot]ball touches the goal or mark, the winner calls out, Hail! or it has hail'd the dulis. 1802 Sibbald Chron. Scot. Poet. II. 370 note (Jam. s.v. Dule) In the game of golf..when the ball reached the mark, the winner, to announce his victory, called, Hail dule! a 1809 Skinner's Misc. Coll. Poet. 133 (Jam.) The ba'-spell's won, And we the ba' hae hail'd. |
▪ X. hail, int.
(heɪl)
Forms: see hail n.2 and a.
[An elliptical or interjectional use of hail a., the imperative be, or some equivalent, as in hail a. 2, having been originally present: cf. ON. heill, and OE. hál similarly used.]
An exclamation of greeting or salutation; now poetic and rhetorical, and usually implying respectful or reverential salutation; = L. ave, salve. a. absol. with vocative.
| c 1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 53 ‘Hail ðu, Marie’, he seide. c 1275 Passion our Lord 191 in O.E. Misc. 42 Heyl, he seyde, mayster, to ihesuc þat hi souhte. a 1300 Sat. People Kildare v. in E.E.P. (1862) 153 Hail seint franceis wiþ þi mani foulis. 1382 Wyclif Mark xv. 18 Hail, thou kyng of Iewis. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 233/1 Heyl, sede for gretynge, ave, salve. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. i. i. 69 Haile Rome: Victorious in thy Mourning Weedes. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 1 Hail holy Light, ofspring of Heav'n first-born. 1738 Glover Leonidas ii. 204 Hail! glorious chief. 1804 J. Grahame Sabbath 40 Hail, Sabbath! thee I hail, the poor man's day. |
b. with to [cf. hail n.2, health, well-being].
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 160 Haile to your Lordship. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xix, Hail to the chief who in triumph advances! 1820 Shelley To a Skylark 1 Hail to thee, blithe spirit! 1855 Tennyson Maud iii. vi. 42 Hail once more to the banner of battle unroll'd! |
▪ XI. hail
Sc. spelling of hale a.; obs. f. hale v.