What does wail mean?
Word: Wail
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Wail means to cry with a long, loud, high sound because you are sad, hurt or angry. It is also used for a long sound like a siren.
Synonyms: howl, cry, moan
Sounds like: whale (a very large sea animal)
How do you spell wail?
Syllables: wail
Tricky part: It starts with plain w and has ai in the middle. Students mix it up with whale, the sea animal, which starts with wh.
Watch out for: whail, waile, wayl
Memory tip: When you wail, you cry like a snail who lost its shell: wail and snail share ail.
Wail in a sentence
Example 1: The baby began to wail when her balloon popped.
Example 2: We heard the factory siren wail at noon.
Example 3: The puppy wailed all night in its new home.
Fun Fact
Wail and whale sound the same but are not related: whale goes back to Old English hwael, while wail came from Old Norse.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Champ
In which option are the given words arranged in alphabetical order?
1. wail 2. waist 3. wait
a) 312
b) 123
c) 213
d) 132
Show answer
b) 123. The three words part ways at their fourth letters: l, then s, then t.
Sound Check
Which word does not rhyme with wail?
a) trail
b) said
c) scale
d) veil
Show answer
b) said. Said is spelt with ai but sounds like bed; trail, veil and scale share the ail sound.
Spell Spies
Choose the pair which has a spelling error:
a) meat : meet
b) wail : whale
c) peice : peace
d) flour : flower
Show answer
c) peice : peace. Piece has i before e; the other pairs of sound-alike words are spelt correctly.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A small child might wail after ____.
a) hearing a funny story
b) opening a birthday present
c) eating a favourite sweet
d) losing a toy at the park
Show answer
d) losing a toy at the park
2. In which sentence is wail used correctly?
a) The toddler let out a loud wail when his ice cream fell.
b) Please wail here until the school bus comes.
c) We saw a huge wail leap out of the sea near the boat.
d) Fresh water comes from the old wail in the village.
Show answer
a) The toddler let out a loud wail when his ice cream fell.
