hail

[[t]he͟ɪl[/t]]

hails, hailing, hailed

1) VERB: usu passive If a person, event, or achievement is hailed as important or successful, they are praised publicly.

[be V-ed as n] Faulkner has been hailed as the greatest American novelist of his generation...

[V n as n] US magazines hailed her as the greatest rock'n'roll singer in the world...

[be V-ed] The deal was hailed by the Defence Secretary. [Also be V-ed n]

2) N-UNCOUNT Hail consists of small balls of ice that fall like rain from the sky.

...a sharp short-lived storm with heavy hail.

3) VERB When it hails, hail falls like rain from the sky.

[it V] It started to hail, huge great stones.

4) N-SING: N of n A hail of things, usually small objects, is a large number of them that hit you at the same time and with great force.

The victim was hit by a hail of bullets...

The riot police were met with a hail of stones and petrol bombs.

5) VERB Someone who hails from a particular place was born there or lives there. [FORMAL]

[V from n] I hail from Brighton...

[V from n] The band hail from Glasgow.

6) VERB If someone or something hails from a particular background, they come from it. [FORMAL]

[V from n] He hails from an affluent background...

[V from n] This is a film which seems to hail from the hippie era.

7) VERB If you hail someone, you call to them. [LITERARY]

[V n] Jill saw him and hailed him...

[V n] Suddenly, a voice hailed us and there was Miss Quigley.

8) VERB If you hail a taxi, you wave at it in order to stop it because you want the driver to take you somewhere.

[V n] I hurried away to hail a taxi.

9) CONVENTION Hail is used as a word of greeting. [OLD-FASHIONED]

Hail to the new champion Bengali D'Albret.