ail

1 of 2

verb

ailed; ailing; ails

transitive verb

: to give physical or emotional pain, discomfort, or trouble to
His back has been ailing him.
It's good for what ails you.
What's ailing you?

intransitive verb

: to have something the matter
an ailing economy
especially : to suffer ill health
She has been ailing for years.

ail

2 of 2

noun

: ailment
winter ails

Examples of ail in a Sentence

Noun half of the staff is out sick with the usual wintertime ails
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Meanwhile, politicians are demanding clarity over crypto mining’s impact on both the environment and the stability of the ailing Texas energy grid. Joel Khalili, WIRED, 6 Mar. 2024 Young cats like Goose and Silly, whose aging, ailing owner had been moved into a nursing facility. Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Mar. 2024 An ailing pound and modest state protections against foreign takeovers also make UK firms more attractive to overseas buyers. Alexandra Muller, Fortune Europe, 1 Mar. 2024 Remember that long-distance caregivers can play supporting roles for family members who do live close to or even with an ailing parents, giving them respite from their daily responsibilities. Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, 28 Feb. 2024 At least, diabolical for the city’s already ailing economy. Simon Constable, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024 Monetary reforms poorly implemented Shortly after taking the reins of power in May last year, President Bola Tinubu took bold steps to fix the ailing economy and attract investors. Chinedu Asadu, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Feb. 2024 The staff seemed resistant to the flu and the editor told Beardsley that ailing employees took a remedy combining aspirin and baking soda. Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Feb. 2024 What ails the health of the richest nation in the world? Madhukar Pai, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024
Noun
What’s more, the age-old phrase the team’s fans have used to describe Detroit’s recent ails – ‘SOL’ or same old Lions – seems to have been banished for now. Ben Morse, CNN, 17 Feb. 2024 In the age of generative AI, the theft of huge troves of medical information might be even more dangerous, as our health records wind up in data sets that enable off-the-books innovation in exploiting our ails. Steven Levy, WIRED, 12 Jan. 2024 The Employer has paid the Employee all payments due through September 9, 2022 and ail stancard deductions and regular payroll tax withholdings have been made. Scott Travis, Sun Sentinel, 30 Sep. 2022 Overall, China’s box office continues to ail, with sizable pockets of cinemas across the country still closed as a COVID precaution and consumer activity suppressed by mass testing and a prevailing sense of caution. Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 June 2022 Illinois’s fiscal ails have long revolved around its pension system for teachers and state workers. Shruti Singh, Bloomberg.com, 18 May 2020 By comparison, the U.S., the coronavirus’s new hotspot, earmarked $2 trillion in March to help businesses, hospitals, and workers counter the economic ails of COVID-19, while the Fed slashed interest rates to nearly zero. Eamon Barrett, Fortune, 20 Apr. 2020 This social pressure only worked, though, to the extent that patients could afford to leave normal life behind, and ail in isolation from their communities. Annika Neklason, The Atlantic, 21 Mar. 2020 El Paso j ail records show a Patrick Wood Crusius was booked Sunday on state charges of capital murder. Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English eilen, eilien "to trouble, afflict, affect (with animate or inanimate agent), be troubled, affected," going back to Old English eglan, eglian "to torment, afflict (with animate or inanimate agent)," going back to Germanic *agljan- (whence also Norwegian egle "to bait, goad, heckle," Danish dialect [Jutland] egle "to goad," [Bornholm] ägla "to scold," Gothic agljan, translating Greek bláptein "to harm, hurt"), of uncertain origin

Note: The Germanic etymon has been compared with an assortment of words inside and outside Germanic, most immediately and unarguably with Old English egle "grievous, painful, loathsome, horrible," Gothic agls, attested only as neuter singular agl, translating Greek aischrós "causing shame, disgraceful," and Gothic aglo, translating Greek thlípsis "tribulation." These have been compared further with Sanskrit agháḥ "evil, bad," Avestan aγa-, and Greek áchnymai, achnýnai "to grieve, lament," áchos "pain, distress." All these have been taken as progeny of an Indo-European base *h2egh-, hypothetically "distress, fear," connected further with Old English ege "fear, terror," Gothic agis, Old Norse agi (see awe entry 1). However, the semantic link between the basic Germanic set (exemplified by Old English eglan and egle) and the other words is tenuous.

Noun

Middle English eil "harm, trouble," perhaps in part going back to an Old English noun *ægl, *ægle, n-stem noun cognate with Gothic aglo "tribulation," derivative of a Germanic adjective agla-, whence Old English egle "grievous, painful"; in part noun derivative of Middle English eilen "to trouble, afflict" and eile "harmful, grievous" (continuing Old English egle) — more at ail entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of ail was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near ail

Cite this Entry

“Ail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ail. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

ail

verb
ˈāl
1
: to be the matter with : trouble
what ails you?
2
: to have something the matter
especially : to suffer ill health
has been ailing for years

Medical Definition

ail

transitive verb
: to affect with a disease or physical or emotional pain or discomfort
what ails the patient

intransitive verb

: to become affected with pain or discomfort : to suffer ill health
was ailing from a cold

More from Merriam-Webster on ail

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