Synonyms
Examples of ail in a Sentence
Paolo Confino, Fortune, 11 Apr. 2024
The drama follows a singer mother with an ailing son living in Jackson Heights, New York, who adapts an unflagging optimism to face life's insurmountable odds.
—Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 6 Apr. 2024
In February, about 140,000 did so, according to officials, and Trump has been all too happy to cite those newcomers, often in dehumanizing terms, as an explanation for all that ails America.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
Derrick threw himself into his role as an assistant at Mt. Eden, but had to take a step back last spring with his father’s health ailing.
—Joseph Dycus, The Mercury News, 1 Apr. 2024
In the wild, an ailing elk would likely be killed by predators, and that’s not exactly a pleasant way to go either.
—Krista Stevens, Longreads, 1 Apr. 2024
Beijing has been struggling to restore the country’s ailing real estate industry, which has not only undermined the confidence of homebuyers, businesses and investors, but also threatened the broader economy.
—Laura He, CNN, 29 Mar. 2024
Oh, the mom of the boy with the ailing pink kite, smiled as Deale fastened a red tail to her son’s kite.
—Jenna Portnoy, Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2024
The Giants’ ace was lights-out, putting whatever ailed him this spring in the rearview mirror while retiring the Padres in order their first time through the lineup.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 28 Mar. 2024
Ben Morse, CNN, 17 Feb. 2024
In the age of generative AI, the theft of huge troves of medical information might be even more dangerous, as our health records wind up in data sets that enable off-the-books innovation in exploiting our ails.
—Steven Levy, WIRED, 12 Jan. 2024
The Employer has paid the Employee all payments due through September 9, 2022 and ail stancard deductions and regular payroll tax withholdings have been made.
—Scott Travis, Sun Sentinel, 30 Sep. 2022
Overall, China’s box office continues to ail, with sizable pockets of cinemas across the country still closed as a COVID precaution and consumer activity suppressed by mass testing and a prevailing sense of caution.
—Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 June 2022
Illinois’s fiscal ails have long revolved around its pension system for teachers and state workers.
—Shruti Singh, Bloomberg.com, 18 May 2020
By comparison, the U.S., the coronavirus’s new hotspot, earmarked $2 trillion in March to help businesses, hospitals, and workers counter the economic ails of COVID-19, while the Fed slashed interest rates to nearly zero.
—Eamon Barrett, Fortune, 20 Apr. 2020
This social pressure only worked, though, to the extent that patients could afford to leave normal life behind, and ail in isolation from their communities.
—Annika Neklason, The Atlantic, 21 Mar. 2020
El Paso j ail records show a Patrick Wood Crusius was booked Sunday on state charges of capital murder.
—Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Verb
Middle English eilen, eilien "to trouble, afflict, affect (with animate or inanimate agent), be troubled, affected," going back to Old English eglan, eglian "to torment, afflict (with animate or inanimate agent)," going back to Germanic *agljan- (whence also Norwegian egle "to bait, goad, heckle," Danish dialect [Jutland] egle "to goad," [Bornholm] ägla "to scold," Gothic agljan, translating Greek bláptein "to harm, hurt"), of uncertain origin
Note: The Germanic etymon has been compared with an assortment of words inside and outside Germanic, most immediately and unarguably with Old English egle "grievous, painful, loathsome, horrible," Gothic agls, attested only as neuter singular agl, translating Greek aischrós "causing shame, disgraceful," and Gothic aglo, translating Greek thlípsis "tribulation." These have been compared further with Sanskrit agháḥ "evil, bad," Avestan aγa-, and Greek áchnymai, achnýnai "to grieve, lament," áchos "pain, distress." All these have been taken as progeny of an Indo-European base *h2egh-, hypothetically "distress, fear," connected further with Old English ege "fear, terror," Gothic agis, Old Norse agi (see awe entry 1). However, the semantic link between the basic Germanic set (exemplified by Old English eglan and egle) and the other words is tenuous.
Noun
Middle English eil "harm, trouble," perhaps in part going back to an Old English noun *ægl, *ægle, n-stem noun cognate with Gothic aglo "tribulation," derivative of a Germanic adjective agla-, whence Old English egle "grievous, painful"; in part noun derivative of Middle English eilen "to trouble, afflict" and eile "harmful, grievous" (continuing Old English egle) — more at ail entry 1
Verb
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense
Noun
13th century, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near ail
Cite this Entry
“Ail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ail. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
ail
verb
Medical Definition
ail
transitive verb
More from Merriam-Webster on ail
Nglish: Translation of ail for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of ail for Arabic Speakers
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