▪ I. ailing, vbl. n.
(ˈeɪlɪŋ)
[f. ail v. + -ing1.]
= ailment.
| 1862 T. Trollope Marietta II. ix. 149 Seeing in it the signs of ailing. 1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle Lands ii. 60 Whose hard-won experience in Eastern ailings renders them invaluable in suggesting the proper remedies. |
▪ II. ailing, ppl. a.
(ˈeɪlɪŋ)
[f. ail v. + -ing2.]
a. Afflicted, affected with illness, suffering.
| 1598 Florio, Manco..failing, ayling, wanting. 1759 Dilworth Pope 15 So far in justice to his prudence as a great poet, and an ailing man. 1810 Crabbe Borough vii. 248 A potent thing, 'twas said, to cure the ills Of ailing lungs—the oxymel of squills. 1880 M. E. Braddon Barbara xviii. 128 He kept a hospital..for his friends' ailing dogs. |
b. fig. Of business or financial concerns.
| 1962 Daily Tel. 28 Mar. 24/6 The decision will then be whether to cut off the ailing limbs [of the railway services] without mercy or keep them alive with regular injections of the taxpayers' money. 1976 Ann. Reg. 1975 21 The Government's ‘Santa Claus policy of bailing out the ailing giants of industry’. 1981 Times 16 June 17/4 Evidence of an improvement in the ailing United States economy. 1986 Marketing 11 Sept. 2/3 Zanussi has undergone a major restructuring programme as Electrolux has tried to make the ailing Italian giant profitable. |