hail
/ˈheɪl/
verbnoun
Common
1.v.praise vociferously
“The critics hailed the young pianist as a new Rubinstein”
2.v.be a native of
“She hails from Kalamazoo”
3.v.call for
“hail a cab”
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hail and hale are homophones: they are pronounced identically and spelled differently, which is why they are so often swapped. hail means “praise vociferously”. hale means “a soldier of the American Revolution who was hanged as a spy by the British; his last words were supposed to have been `I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country' (1755-1776)”. hail is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈheɪl/
1.v.praise vociferously
“The critics hailed the young pianist as a new Rubinstein”
2.v.be a native of
“She hails from Kalamazoo”
3.v.call for
“hail a cab”
/ˈheɪl/
| hail | hale | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈheɪl/ | /ˈheɪl/ |
| Said | hayl | hayl |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| Letters | 4 | 4 |
| Parts of speech | verb, noun | noun, verb, adjective |
| Senses | 8 | 6 |
| How common | Common | Familiar |
| Synonyms | acclaim, herald | Nathan Hale |
Full entry for hail · Full entry for hale · More comparisons
1.n.a soldier of the American Revolution who was hanged as a spy by the British; his last words were supposed to have been `I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country' (1755-1776)
2.n.United States astronomer who discovered that sunspots are associated with strong magnetic fields (1868-1938)
3.n.prolific United States writer (1822-1909)