WAILING Definition & Meaning

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wailing

[wey-ling]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

uttering a prolonged, inarticulate, mournful cry, usually high-pitched or clear-sounding, as in grief or suffering.
In the village we passed a funeral procession, the wailing widow following behind the body of her husband.
making a mournful sound, as a siren, music, the wind, etc..
A wailing police siren nears, passes, and fades.
complaining, protesting, whining, or crying.
He rubbed the bare foot of the wailing toddler and planted a kiss on it.
They’re always trying to correct the market, usually in the interests of some wailing pressure group.
Slang.��expressing emotion musically or verbally in an exciting, satisfying way.
The song celebrates with a Cajun-flavored stomp accompanied by a wailing fiddle and screaming electric guitar.

noun

a mournful cry or sound, or the act of making such a sound.
The wailing of the mourners rose and fell, merging with the drums and the shaman’s chants.
an act or instance of complaining, protesting, etc..
“All art is propaganda, despite the wailing of purists,” she sneered.
Slang.��the act of expressing emotion musically or verbally in an exciting, satisfying way.
At this live show from 1974, the soulful wailing of the chorus in the background is utterly spine-tingling.

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Other 51�Թ� Forms

wailingly adverb
unwailing adjective

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of wailing¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; wail ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; wail ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun senses

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Musically awkward at the start, the five soon coordinated their strumming, thumping and wailing into harmonies with a hot rock beat.

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Video taken by a resident showed the daughter wailing on the ground after making the tragic discovery and later begging officers to remove her mother’s body.

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A bucket of radioactive uranium ore sets a Geiger counter wailing.

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But then you hear sirens wailing, horns honking angrily or a lost soul on the street yelling profanities to no one in particular, and you’re jolted for a second back to reality.

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In dark times, the songs that will comfort us will not be the cacophony of individual voices wailing their grief.

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