What is "hail"

Hale \Hale\ (h[=a]l), a. [Written also hail.] [OE. heil, Icel. heill; akin to E. whole. See Whole.] Sound; entire; healthy; robust; not impaired; as, a hale body.

Last year we thought him strong and hale.
--Swift.

"greetings!" c.1200, from Old Norse heill "health, prosperity, good luck," or a similar Scandinavian source, and in part from Old English hals, shortening of wæs hæil "be healthy" (see health and also wassail).

"frozen rain," Old English hægl, hagol (Mercian hegel) "hail, hailstorm," also the name of the rune for H, from Proto-Germanic *haglaz (cognates: Old Frisian heil, Old Saxon, Old High German hagal, Old Norse hagl, German Hagel "hail"), probably from PIE *kaghlo- "pebble" (cognates: Greek kakhlex "round pebble").

"to call from a distance," 1560s, originally nautical, from hail (interj.). Related: Hailed; hailing. Hail fellow well met is 1580s, from a familiar greeting. Hail Mary (c.1300) is the angelic salutation (Latin ave Maria) in Luke i:58, used as a devotional recitation. As a desperation play in U.S. football, attested by 1940. To hail from is 1841, originally nautical. "Hail, Columbia," the popular patriotic song, was a euphemism for "hell" in American English slang from c.1850-1910.

Old English hagolian, from root of hail (n.). Related: Hailed; hailing. Figurative use from mid-15c.

Etymology 1 n. Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm. vb. 1 (context impersonal English) Said of the weather when hail is falling. 2 (context transitive English) to send or release hail Etymology 2

1. (context obsolete English) healthy, whole, safe. interj. An exclamation of respectful or reverent salutation, or, occasionally, of familiar greeting. v

2. 1 (context transitive English) to greet; give salutation to; salute. 2 (context transitive English) To name; to designate; to call. 3 (context transitive English) to call out loudly in order to gain the attention of

1. n. precipitation of ice pellets when there are strong rising air currents

2. enthusiastic greeting

1. v. praise vociferously; "The critics hailed the young pianist as a new Rubinstein" [syn: acclaim, herald]

2. be a native of; "She hails from Kalamazoo" [syn: come]

3. call for; "hail a cab"

4. greet enthusiastically or joyfully [syn: herald]

5. precipitate as small ice particles; "It hailed for an hour"

Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from American sleet (called ice pellets outside of the United States), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Sleet (ice pellets) falls generally in cold weather while hail growth is greatly inhibited during cold surface temperatures.

Unlike graupel, which is made of rime, and ice pellets, which are smaller and translucent, hailstones consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter. The METAR reporting code for hail or greater is GR, while smaller hailstones and graupel are coded GS.

Hail is possible within most thunderstorms as it is produced by cumulonimbi, and within of the parent storm. Hail formation requires environments of strong, upward motion of air with the parent thunderstorm (similar to tornadoes) and lowered heights of the freezing level. In the mid-latitudes, hail forms near the interiors of continents, while in the tropics, it tends to be confined to high elevations.

There are methods available to detect hail-producing thunderstorms using weather satellites and weather radar imagery. Hailstones generally fall at higher speeds as they grow in size, though complicating factors such as melting, friction with air, wind, and interaction with rain and other hailstones can slow their descent through Earth's atmosphere. Severe weather warnings are issued for hail when the stones reach a damaging size, as it can cause serious damage to human-made structures and, most commonly, farmers' crops.

Hail are an American indie/ punk band with an avant-garde twist consisting of Susanne Lewis (vocals, guitar, main composer and lyricist) and Bob Drake (bass). The band has also had guest appearances from Mike Johnson, Dave Kerman, Chris Cutler and Bill Gilonis. Albums include Gypsy Cat & Gypsy Bird (1988), Turn of the Screw (1990) and Kirk (1992). In 2006, Lewis and Drake released a new Hail album, Hello Debris, on Recommended Records.

Lewis also collaborated with Azalia Snail for the Hail/Snail album How to Live with a Tiger (1993), and she guested alongside Cutler on Biota's album Object Holder (1995).

Hail (foaled 27 September 1997) is a thoroughbred racehorse who won the New Zealand Derby in 2000.

In seven years of racing, Hail established for himself a reputation of reliability, strength and durability. Although he only won two Group 1 races, he finished in the first four in a further eight, including a fourth in the Wellington Cup under topweight.

He is one of the few Derby winners in recent times to have tasted success in Australia, with his win in the Group 2 Sandown Classic in late 2002.

Hail is the first LP album released in 1988 by New Zealand band, Straitjacket Fits. There were three releases of the album, a New Zealand release in 1988, a United Kingdom and United States release also in 1988 and an extended album in 1989. The UK/US release featured tracks which had earlier been released in New Zealand on the Life in One Chord EP; the 1989 release contained all the songs from both the New Zealand album and the earlier EP.

Most of the songs on the album were credited to Shayne Carter/Straitjacket Fits, the exceptions being "Sparkle That Shines", "Take From The Years" and "Fabulous Things" (all Andrew Brough/Straitjacket Fits), and a cover of Leonard Cohen's song " So Long, Marianne". This was the only cover version recorded on any of Straitjacket Fits' albums.

The album was well received, though the band were disappointed that the sound of the finished release failed to capture either their live sound or the intensity of their debut EP. Rip It Up described it as having "tidal waves of sweetly distorted guitar noise that spill over and around the vocal harmonies."

The title track and "Sparkle That Shines" were both released as singles from the album.

Hail is a form of frozen precipitation. It may also refer to:

• Ha'il, a city in Saudi Arabia
• Ha'il Region, in Saudi Arabia
• Hail, Kentucky, a community in the United States
• Hail Mary, a traditional Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox prayer calling for the intercession of Mary, the mother of Jesus
• Highways Agency Information Line in England
• Hydro Acoustic Information Link, manufactured by L-3 Communication
• Honeywell Automation India Limited
• Hail Satan, an expression
• Hail (band), an indie/punk band
• Hail!, a heavy metal supergroup