How to use wail in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun

Wail means to cry out, as in sorrow or anguish. Example: “The wind wailed and the rain streamed down.”

Examples of wail by meaning

verbTo make a noise like mourning or crying.

The wind wailed and the rain streamed down.

verbTo lament; to bewail; to grieve over.

to wail one's death

verbTo perform with great liveliness and force.

Fred only stands up on alternate Wednesdays, but when he does, he really wails.1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer
At Boston's Roseland, as "the Count's band was wailing," he grabbed Mamie, an avid dancer.1999, Lewis A. Erenberg, Swingin' the Dream: Big Band Jazz and the Rebirth of American Culture, page 111
The band was really wailing as we quickly made our dance moves in a most provocative manner.2012, Robert Lewis Barrett, A Portrait of the First Born As a Child, page 377

nounA prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.

She let out a loud, doleful wail.

nounAny similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.

The wail of snow-dark winter winds.
A bird's wail in the night.

More sentences with wail

Craig ran off wailing because his friend pulled a prank on him.From the entry wailing
The wrench wouldn’t budge, even though Tony was just wailing on it with a big old sledge hammer.From the entry wail on
Around them, the air thrummed with the kind of voltaic wailing to power up the darkest night.2022, NoViolet Bulawayo, Glory, Chatto & Windus, page 282. From the entry voltaic
The high-pitched sound of these wicked sirens wailing pierced his ears and made them pop.2022, Jennifer Peaks, Soul Enemy, →ISBN. From the entry crackalackin'
On being asked what was wrong, I apparently wailed “I’m schoolsick!2020, Nina Ann Smith, It's Odd, The Things One Remembers, FriesenPress, page 17. From the entry schoolsick
He shoved Jessie off but Jessie came back and wailed on him something harsh.2017, Tanya Reimer, Cursed on the Prairies: a Sacred Land Story. From the entry wail on
A siren wailed in the distance, the high-pitched howl of Boston Medical Center's go team.2014, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Truth Be Told: A Jane Ryland Novel, →ISBN. From the entry go team
We should therefore not make too much of the fraudulence of all that on-screen wailing.2012 January 7, B. R. Myers, “Dynasty, North Korean-style”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Jan 2012. From the entry fraudulence
By the time Ama got to the scene, Egeonu had given four more full-bosomed wails.2012, Christopher Amatobi, Many Moons Ago in Africa, page 91. From the entry full-bosomed
He squats and rubs the inside of his thigh and howls and wails ecstatically.2011, Jay Dobbin, Francis X. Hezel, Summoning the Powers Beyond: Traditional Religions in Micronesia, University of Hawaii Press, →ISBN…. From the entry incantor
If a player makes a silly mistake, he doesn’t wail when told to “wake up lah, dey”.2007 September 10, Sandra Leong, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore…. From the entry dey
And with his ghostly honking wailing he heads out the jarrahwood door.2007, Brooke Biaz, Moon Dance. From the entry jarrahwood
That blackheart would have thrust you out to wail and gained the time himself, without you there.2007, Jo Walton, The King's Name, →ISBN. From the entry blackheart
It just sits in there multiplying away, whether you are admirably stoic or weeping and wailing.2002 February 18, Molly Ivins, “Who Needs Breasts, Anyway?”, in TIME, archived from the original on 11 Feb 2002. From the entry admirably
In the last frame, he throws back his head and wails, his mouth agape.1995 September 24, “Stop Me If Yov've Heard this One”, in Washington Post. From the entry agape
The shear, or racking, forces which act on wail systems arise primarily from wind.1977, Roger L. Tuomi, David S. Gromala, “Racking Strength of Walls”, in USDA Forest Service Research Paper, number FPL 301. From the entry rack
To a resounding wail headed by the King-Kong skirl, all gangs joined in hauling in the net.1977, Raja Proctor, The Illicit Immigrant, page 92. From the entry skirl
Then he heard the wailing cry of the forehander as the crowd manned the braces.1940, Roland Barker, Jonah's Ark, page 59. From the entry forehander
"Like the Persian Johnny," said Jimmy, "who went about wailing for fresh worlds to conquer."1929, Agatha Christie, The Seven Dials Mystery. From the entry johnny
With swaying arms they wail in pneuma over the recreant Bloom.1922, James Joyce, Ulysses. From the entry pneuma
There was weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth in South Melbourne last Saturday night.1910, The Old Man, Melbourne: Punch, published 1910, page 6. From the entry weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth
But still he wailed, and kicked with his legs, and refused to be comforted.1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC. From the entry smell
You’d be considered a leper if you did not participate in the average, mediocre people’s wailing and complaining.2019, Leander Moss, Death at a Discount: A Funny, Magical & Inspiring Tale of the After-life, Babelcube Incorporated, page 25. From the entry a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved
She sniffed and nodded and cried and wailed and keened for her husband, who would never come back to her.2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 113. From the entry keen
Oh, a Francois' leaf monkey, about 2 years old, was looking at him sadly and giving a mournful wail.2015, Kekang He, New Theory of Children’s Thinking Development, →ISBN. From the entry leaf monkey
She burst into sobs and moans, wailing like nobody's business a prompting the gathering to follow her sorrow-some lead.2012, Jayme Alan Toomey, A Passin’ On. From the entry sorrowsome
In no time at all you'll be headdesking just like a dog trainer, wailing at people's misinterpretations of their dogs.2011, Jolanta Benal, The Dog Trainer's Complete Guide to a Happy, Well-Behaved Pet, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 145. From the entry headdesk
I staggered to an opportune wall and continued to wail from the deepest, hurtingest, sweetest little abandoned place I could imagine.2005, Michael Weinberger, A Message from Jakie, page 150. From the entry opportune
Believe you me, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst the other members of the class.2005 November 22, “Cliffy”, “My Students Can’t Name 3 First Amendment Rights: Sad or Normal?”, in Straight Dope Message Board, The…. From the entry slanhood
“Then why was he wailing like that?2004, Lolita Files, Tastes Like Chicken, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 155. From the entry shiba
I hung there for a few seconds, then turned to see my Braves shouting encouragement and sending up birdlike wails.2000, Steven Siebert, Cleopatra's Needle. From the entry torturesome
Their wailing Dixieland came swinging out into the night, drawing the peekers outside from behind their shaded windows.1988 April 22, Marion Karczmar, “Tina and Rosie Don't Live Here Anymore”, in Chicago Reader, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2016. From the entry peeker

Meaning of wail

verb To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.
verb To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.
verb To make a noise like mourning or crying.

Full definition of wail

Questions about wail in a sentence

How do you use wail in a sentence?: Wail is used as a verb and noun. For example: “The wind wailed and the rain streamed down.”
What is a short sentence with wail?: “to wail one's death”
What does wail mean?: Wail means to cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.

Adapted from Wiktionary: wail (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use wail in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/wail. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.