From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishwailwail /weɪl/ verb 1 [transitive]SAY to say something in a loud, sad, and complaining way ‘But what shall I do?’ Bernard wailed.2 [intransitive]CRY to cry out with a long high sound, especially because you are very sad or in pain Somewhere behind them a child began to wail.► see thesaurus at cry3 [intransitive]C to make a long high sound The wind wailed in the chimney. —wail noun [countable] the wail of police sirens→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
wail• "The world is coming to an end!" the woman wailed.• Somewhere to the rear a child began to wail.• I begin to wail and Connie looks worried and returns with little funny steps to his corner.• He started wailing and crying and pulling at the corpses and had to be dragged away.• He wailed and gagged as people walked by.• Moza wailed, her voice hoarse with dread.• Better to leave your audience wailing in the dark, shaking their fists, some crying How?, others why?• I called Narendra and wailed into the phone.• People were wailing on the streets.• Gods, how those clods had wailed when they had seen his proud lion-masked visage!Origin wail (1200-1300) From a Scandinavian language 