entailed; entailing; entails
1
: to impose, involve, or imply as a necessary accompaniment or result
the project will entail considerable expense
2
: to restrict (property) by limiting the inheritance to the owner's lineal descendants or to a particular class thereof
3
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
Robert Browning
b
: to fix (a person) permanently in some condition or status
entail him and his heirs unto the crown—William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare1
a
: a restriction especially of lands by limiting the inheritance to the owner's lineal descendants or to a particular class thereof
b
: an entailed (see entail entry 1 sense 2) estate
2
: something transmitted as if by entail
Synonyms
Examples of entail in a Sentence
Verb
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
… 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
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
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
He accepted the responsibility, with all that it entails.
a lavish wedding entails extensive planning and often staggering expense
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Cathleen Kaveny, Commonweal, 4 May 2007
… 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
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
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
He accepted the responsibility, with all that it entails.
a lavish wedding entails extensive planning and often staggering expense
See More
Recent Examples on the WebWashington Post Staff, Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2023
Notice that the latter two scenarios entail declining annual emissions, beginning now.
—Hersh Shefrin, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023
Want to produce a huge amount of lithium for electric vehicle batteries — and also batteries that keep our homes powered after sundown — without causing the environmental destruction that lithium extraction often entails?
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 28 Nov. 2023
Finally, any just resolution would entail a reckoning with the mass civilian casualties on each side.
—Matthew Duss, Foreign Affairs, 27 Nov. 2023
This entails igniting a subset of the rocket’s 33 engines, similar to what happens with the Falcon 9 rocket at the top of the atmosphere.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 20 Nov. 2023
The director revealed more details on what these director’s cuts would entail in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly.
—Caroline Brew, Variety, 19 Nov. 2023
Employees who let their upbeat, professional demeanor slip face the prospect of poor customer survey ratings and the discipline that entails.
—WIRED, 9 Nov. 2023
This would entail catching and milking snakes from different parts of India, not just the big four, and making a mixed antivenin.
—Kamala Thiagarajan, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Nov. 2023
See More
Verb
The more immediate alternative would entail tapping the U.S. military’s arsenal of 155mm shells that, unlike the South Korean variant, were packed with cluster munitions.
—Washington Post Staff, Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2023
Notice that the latter two scenarios entail declining annual emissions, beginning now.
—Hersh Shefrin, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023
Want to produce a huge amount of lithium for electric vehicle batteries — and also batteries that keep our homes powered after sundown — without causing the environmental destruction that lithium extraction often entails?
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 28 Nov. 2023
Finally, any just resolution would entail a reckoning with the mass civilian casualties on each side.
—Matthew Duss, Foreign Affairs, 27 Nov. 2023
This entails igniting a subset of the rocket’s 33 engines, similar to what happens with the Falcon 9 rocket at the top of the atmosphere.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 20 Nov. 2023
The director revealed more details on what these director’s cuts would entail in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly.
—Caroline Brew, Variety, 19 Nov. 2023
Employees who let their upbeat, professional demeanor slip face the prospect of poor customer survey ratings and the discipline that entails.
—WIRED, 9 Nov. 2023
This would entail catching and milking snakes from different parts of India, not just the big four, and making a mixed antivenin.
—Kamala Thiagarajan, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Nov. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'entail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Verb and Noun
Middle English entailen, entaillen, from en- entry 1 + taile, taille limitation — more at tail entry 4
First Known Use
Verb
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Time Traveler
The first known use of entail was
in the 14th century
Dictionary Entries Near entail
Cite this Entry
“Entail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entail. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
entail
1 of 2 verb
en·tail
in-ˈtā(ə)l 
1
: to limit the inheritance of (property) to the owner's direct descendants or to a certain group of them
2
: to have as a necessary part or result
the essay entails a lot of research
entail
2 of 2 noun
en·tail
ˈen-ˌtāl
in-ˈtā(ə)l
in-ˈtā(ə)l
1
a
: an entailing of property
b
: an entailed estate
2
: the rule fixing descent by entailment
Legal Definition
entail
1 of 2 transitive verb
en·tail
in-ˈtāl
: to make (an estate in real property) a fee tail : limit the descent of (real property) by restricting inheritance to specific descendants who cannot convey or transfer the property
estates are entailed entire on the eldest male heir—Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
entailment
noun
entail
2 of 2 noun1
: an act or instance of entailing real property
also
: the practice of entailing property
the repeal of the laws of entail would prevent the accumulation and perpetuation of wealth in select families —Thomas Jefferson
see also De Donis Conditionalibus
Thomas Jefferson 2
: an entailed estate in real property
if entails had not become barrable—Eileen Spring
Eileen Spring3
: the fixed line of descent of an entailed estate
Etymology
Transitive verb
Middle English entaillen, from en-, causative prefix + taille restriction on inheritance see tail
More from Merriam-Webster on entail
Nglish: Translation of entail for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of entail for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about entail
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