overhail

Verb

overhail (third-person singular simple present overhails, present participle overhailing, simple past and past participle overhailed)

1. (obsolete) To call or tempt away from the correct path.
   • No hunter, so, but finds the breeding of the West best; The only kind of hounds for mouth and nostril That cold doth seldom fret, nor heat doth overhail; As standing in the flight, as pleasant on the trail; Free hunting, eas'ly checkt, and loving every chase; pace: Strait running, hard and tough...1613, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion
   • And there is this lastly, that doth evidencee it, when one doth sin with much Deliberation and Advice, they are not overhailed by their Temptations and Lusts, and they sit down in Council to consult how such a thing may be effectuat; then had Iniqnity dominion over those that are made mention of...1693, The Spiritual Warfare
2. (obsolete) To rain or sprinkle on top of.
   • So this star of Iacob had some staines, blemishes caft upon his light and lustre, especially in the cause of Vriah and his wife, not to be covered or alleviated any way: ótherwise he was as a guide by night, so bee the starres of heaven, in overhailed darknesse, to direct Israel in Gods wayes, and...1642, The Acts and Monuments of the Church Before Christ Incarnate
   • He looked at me, and took all patiently that I spoke ; the tears overhailed his cheeks abundantly.1877, Francis Sadleir Stoney, A Memoir of the Life and Times of the Right Honerable Sir Ralph Sadleir, page 187
3. (rare) Synonym of overhaul.
   • In fact a stage has reached in Indo- nepalese relations where the pattern of Indian aid needs to be overhailed.1997, B. K. Tewari, Awadhesh Kumar Singh, India's Neighbours: Past and Future, page 119
   • While planned shutdown for overhailing and maintenance is a regular feature of a power supply system, continued and unplanned outages from installed units require immediate corrective steps.2000, Asom Prakalpa (Group), Assam beyond 2000, page 62

   Synonyms:

   overhaul

4. To praise too much.
   • And the second thing is to hail, perhaps overhail, the good things in live drama.1959, Jonas Mekas, Film Culture - Issues 19-23, page 22
   • The role of rhetoric in all this business of perceptions is even more a determining factor than the tardily and overhailed message of the medium so much mentioned by people who read and write with difficulty.1973, Library Journal - Volume 98, page 1065