entail

¹en·tail

verb \in-ˈtāl, en-\

Definition of ENTAIL

transitive verb

1

: to restrict (property) by limiting the inheritance to the owner's lineal descendants or to a particular class thereof

2

a : to confer, assign, or transmit (something) for an indefinitely long time : to confer, assign, or transmit as if by entail <entailed on them indelible disgrace — Robert Browning> b : to fix (a person) permanently in some condition or status <entail him and his heirs unto the crown — Shakespeare>

3

: to impose, involve, or imply as a necessary accompaniment or result <the project will entail considerable expense>

— en·tail·er \-ˈtā-lər\ noun

— en·tail·ment \-ˈtāl-mənt\ noun

Examples of ENTAIL

1. He accepted the responsibility, with all that it entails.
2. <a lavish wedding entails extensive planning and often staggering expense>
3. Pregnancy involves the bodily dependence of the unborn child on its mother; in many cases, it entails a significant physical burden. —Cathleen Kaveny, Commonweal, 4 May 2007
4. … it was a Master Highlighter Event, a two-day guest appearance by one of Kinkade's specially trained assistants, who would highlight any picture bought during the event for free. Highlighting a picture is not that different from highlighting your hair: it entails stippling tiny bright dots of paint on the picture to give it more texture and luminescence. —Susan Orlean, New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2001
5. Life is a difficult and complicated enterprise. It entails joy but also suffering, gain but also loss, hope but also despair. —Neal Gabler, Life: The Movie, 1998
6. Discourse is a social as well as an intellectual activity; it entails interaction between minds, and it revolves around something possessed in common. —David A. Hollinger, In the American Province, (1985) 1992

Origin of ENTAIL

Middle English entailen, entaillen, from ¹en- + taile, taille limitation — more at tail

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to ENTAIL

Synonyms: carry, comprehend, contain, embrace, encompass, include, involve, number, subsume, take in

Antonyms: exclude, leave (out), miss out [British], omit

Related Words: comprise, consist (of); bracket; have, hold, own, possess; admit, receive; compose, constitute, form, make; assimilate, embody, incorporate, integrate

Near Antonyms: ban, bar, debar, preclude, prevent, prohibit; deny, refuse, reject; eliminate, except, rule out; lose, mislay, misplace

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Rhymes with ENTAIL

abseil, airmail, all hail, assail, avail, bake sale, bangtail, blackmail, blacktail, bobtail, broadscale, broadtail, bucktail, bud scale, canaille, cattail, chain mail, coattail, cocktail, contrail, curtail, derail, detail, doornail, dovetail, downscale, ducktail, e-mail, exhale, fan mail, fantail, female, fife rail, fire sale, fishtail, folktale, foresail, foxtail, fresh gale, full-scale, gapped scale, Glendale, gray scale, greenmail, guardrail, Hallel, handrail, hangnail, headsail, hightail, hobnail, horntail, horsetail, impale, inhale, junk mail, Longueuil, lugsail, mainsail, mare's tail, Mondale, moon snail, oxtail, pass-fail, percale, pigtail, pintail, pinwale, plate rail, pot ale, prevail, rattail, regale, resale, rescale, retail, right whale, ringtail, Sangreal, Scottsdale, sea kale, shavetail, shirttail, skysail, slop pail, small-scale, snail mail, soft hail, split rail, springtail, spritsail, square sail, staysail, strong gale, surveil, swordtail, taffrail, tag sale, telltale, third rail, thumbnail, timescale, toenail, topsail, travail, trysail, unnail, unveil, upscale, ventail, voice mail, wage scale, wagtail, wassail, whiptail, white sale, whitetail, white whale, whole gale, wholesale, yard sale