{
    "term": "hail",
    "partOfSpeech": "verb",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "verbForms": {
        "presentSimple": {
            "iYouWeThey": "hail",
            "heSheIt": "hails"
        },
        "pastSimple": "hailed",
        "pastParticiple": "hailed",
        "ingForm": "hailing"
    },
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "to describe somebody/something as being very good or special, especially in newspapers, etc.",
            "sensetop": "be hailed (as) somethinghail somebody/something as something",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The conference was hailed as a great success.",
                    "contextForm": "be hailed (as) something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The expedition was widely hailed as a success."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Teenager Matt Brown is being hailed a hero for saving a young child from drowning."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Union leaders hailed the socialists’ victory as a huge step forward.",
                    "contextForm": "hail somebody/something as something"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "to signal to a taxi or a bus, in order to get the driver to stop",
            "sensetop": "hail something",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "to **hail a taxi/cab**"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Transport by bus and train"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "to call to somebody in order to say hello to them or attract their attention",
            "sensetop": "hail somebody",
            "labels": "(literary)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "A voice hailed us from the other side of the street."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We soon came **within hailing distance of** *(= fairly close to)* the others."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "when it hails, small balls of ice fall like rain from the sky",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "It's hailing!"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Weather"]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/heɪl/",
                "audio": "ha/hail/hail__gb_4.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/heɪlz/",
                "audio": "ha/hail/hails__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/heɪld/",
                "audio": "ha/hail/hailed__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈheɪlɪŋ/",
                "audio": "ha/hail/hailing__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/heɪl/",
                "audio": "ha/hail/hail__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/heɪlz/",
                "audio": "ha/hail/hails__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/heɪld/",
                "audio": "ha/hail/hailed__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈheɪlɪŋ/",
                "audio": "ha/hail/hailing__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "verb sense 4 Old English hagol, hægl (noun), hagalian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hagel and German Hagel. verb senses 1 to 3 Middle English: from the obsolete adjective hail ‘healthy’ (occurring in greetings and toasts, such as wæs hæil: see wassail), from Old Norse heill, related to hale and whole."
}