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Definition of hail noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

hail

noun
 
/heɪl/
 
/heɪl/
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  1. [uncountable] small balls of ice that fall like rain
    • We drove through hail and snow.
    Extra Examples
    • The hail melted once the sun came out.
    • We got caught in the hail.
    • Rain and hail pounded on the tiled roof.
    Topics Weatherc2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryhail + verb
    • fall
    • melt
    hail + noun
    • stone
    • storm
    preposition
    • in (the) hail
    • through (the) hail
    See full entry
  2. [singular] a hail of something a large number or amount of something that is aimed at somebody in order to harm them
    • a hail of arrows/bullets
    • a hail of abuse
    Extra Examples
    • A passer-by was caught in the hail of bullets.
    • The attempt to bring in new legislation was met by a hail of criticism.
  3. Word Originnoun Old English hagol, hægl (noun), hagalian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hagel and German Hagel.
See hail in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
previously
adverb
 
 
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