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ail
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
ail
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
weak/ailing/depressed
▪ The economy is weak and consumer confidence is low.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Make a kind of grand tour on my own, take the waters and cure what ails me.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ail

Ail \Ail\ ([=a]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ailed ([=a]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Ailing.] [OE. eilen, ailen, AS. eglan to trouble, pain; akin to Goth. us-agljan to distress, agls troublesome, irksome, aglo, aglitha, pain, and prob. to E. awe. [root]3.] To affect with pain or uneasiness, either physical or mental; to trouble; to be the matter with; -- used to express some uneasiness or affection, whose cause is unknown; as, what ails the man? I know not what ails him.

What aileth thee, Hagar?
--Gen. xxi. 17.

Note: It is never used to express a specific disease. We do not say, a fever ails him; but, something ails him.

Ail

Ail \Ail\, v. i. To be affected with pain or uneasiness of any sort; to be ill or indisposed or in trouble.

When he ails ever so little . . . he is so peevish.
--Richardson.

Ail

Ail \Ail\, n. Indisposition or morbid affection.
--Pope.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
ail

c.1300, from Old English eglan "to trouble, plague, afflict," from Proto-Germanic *azljaz (cognates: Old English egle "hideous, loathsome, troublesome, painful;" Gothic agls "shameful, disgraceful," agliþa "distress, affliction, hardship," us-agljan "to oppress, afflict"), from PIE *agh-lo-, suffixed form of root *agh- (1) "to be depressed, be afraid." Related: Ailed; ailing; ails.\n\nIt is remarkable, that this word is never used but with some indefinite term, or the word no thing; as What ails him? ... Thus we never say, a fever ails him.

[Johnson]

Wiktionary
ail

Etymology 1

  1. (context obsolete English) painful; troublesome. Etymology 2

    n. An ailment; trouble; illness. v

  2. 1 (context transitive English) To cause to suffer; to trouble, afflict. (Now chiefly in interrogative or indefinite constructions.) 2 (context intransitive English) To be ill; to suffer; to be troubled. Etymology 3

    n. The awn of barley or other types of corn.

WordNet
ail

n. aromatic bulb used as seasoning [syn: garlic]

ail
  1. v. be unwell, ill, or ill disposed

  2. cause bodily suffering to [syn: afflict, trouble, pain]

Wikipedia
Ail

Ail or AIL may refer to:

  • Ail (health), a state of poor health
  • Ail (Sailor Moon), a character in the Sailor Moon anime series
  • Automotive Industries Limited, a motor vehicle manufacturer of Israel
  • American Income Life Insurance Company, a life insurance company in America
  • Dylan Ail Don, a night god in Welsh mythology
  • ail, a rare name for garlic (ail is French for garlic)
  • Abnormal Indivisible Loads, a term used for oversized road transport
  • All-Ireland League (rugby union)
  • ail, code for Aimele language of Papua New Guinea
  • Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (disambiguation), various research institutes
  • Accademia Italiana di Lingua (disambiguation), Italian Language and Culture Association

Usage examples of "ail".

That was ail they would allow themselves until they were back across the border and out of danger.

Bundesgrenzschutz a force of West German riot police who guard airports, embassies and the border and an elderly Englishman in a curious nautical uniform worn by the British Frontier Service, which acts as guides for ail British army patrols on land, air and river.

I wonder if you would be so kind as to stroll with me to the royal stables now, while all is quiet there, and perhaps advise me on what might ail him?

So ail that was left was to shut them down the hard way, by brute force.

Apparently overcoming whatever had previously ailed it, the computer began to download Tituss mail.

Even Signora Strega-Borgia had joined in, apparently overcoming whatever it was that had ailed her and devouring course after course of Tituss birthday banquet, badly prepared by Marie Bain and surreptitiously adjusted by Mrs McLachlan.

When George bought an ailing company it immediately recovered its strength.

She has helped birth many babes, has saved many ailing mothers after difficult births and has never turned anyone away seeking help.

Band-Aids, and the ailing plant Jenks had rescued from the half-price rack in the tiny floral department.

Jenks had put his ailing plant on the table, and it was looking better already.

The ailing vampire met my eyes, clearly wanting to talk to me, but DeLavine took his other arm in a show of concern born from memory, not love, and escorted him to the door.

From the corner of my sight I watched Nick leave the bathroom, looking like the ailing vampire who was sitting beside me, trying to attract anyone in an apron.

Though he had been ailing for years, as has been stated, yet his wonderful energy of mind made it appear to many that there was no immediate danger of his life.

Alarm changed to resignation, and more and more Doc Daneeka acquired the look of an ailing rodent.

So preoccupied was she with her ailing employer that she failed to notice when Damp hauled a large golf umbrella out of the stand by the door and started to wave it purposefully around.