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# wailing

«wailing» in Mova's school dictionary: **A long, loud, high cry of pain, sadness or anger** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (wailing, uncountable); verb, -ing form of wail (wail, wails, wailed, wailing); adjective (wailing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A long, loud, high cry of pain, sadness or anger. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wailing/#m1)

2) A long, high sound like a cry, such as a siren or the wind. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wailing/#m2)

3) (informal) Complaining loudly and at length. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wailing/#m3)

4) The Wailing Wall is a name for the Western Wall in Jerusalem, a holy place where Jewish people pray. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wailing/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In stories, wailing tells the reader that someone is very upset: a baby wailing in the night, mourners wailing at a funeral. It can also describe sounds: a wailing siren or the wind wailing in the chimney. The Western Wall in Jerusalem is a very holy place for Jewish people; "Wailing Wall" is an older name, and many prefer "Western Wall". Phrases: "wailing and crying", "a wailing siren", "the Wailing Wall".

### examples

- The baby was wailing in the middle of the night. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wailing/#x1)
- We heard the wailing of a fire engine's siren. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wailing/#x2)
- The wind was wailing around the old house. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wailing/#x3)
- There was wailing and crying when the dog ran away. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wailing/#x4)
- Stop wailing about your homework and just start it! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wailing/#x5)
- People pray at the Western Wall, also called the Wailing Wall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wailing/#x6)
- The ghost in the story made a terrible wailing sound. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wailing/#x7)
- In one of the houses he heard cries and wailing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wailing/#x8)

### note

"Wail" is a regular verb (wailed, wailing). Homophone trap: "wailing" sounds like "whaling" (hunting whales) and "Wales" sounds like "wails"; check the spelling by meaning. Wailing is louder and longer than crying or sobbing.

### In the corpora

- [For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion: 'How are we undone!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/JER.288/)
- [Hark! the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the leaders of the flock!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/JER.708/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «wailing» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wailing/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.