hail

B2 · Upper Intermediate

v. to describe someone or something as being very good or successful.

v. to acclaim or enthusiastically acknowledge the excellence of a person or achievement.

“Critics hail the new movie as the best film of the year.”

“The international community continues to hail the peace treaty as a landmark achievement in modern diplomacy.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate

v. to come from or have been born in a particular place.

v. to originate from or have one's birthplace in a specific location; used with the preposition 'from'.

“Our new teacher hails from a small village in the mountains.”

“Although she has lived in London for decades, she originally hails from a coastal town in western Australia.”

B1 · Intermediate

v. when small balls of ice fall from the sky like rain.

v. to precipitate small pellets of ice; used as an impersonal verb with 'it'.

“It started to hail so hard that we had to pull the car over.”

“The sky turned a bruised purple, and it began to hail, with ice pellets bouncing violently off the pavement.”

B1 · Intermediate Uncountable noun

n. small, hard balls of ice that fall from the sky.

n. precipitation in the form of small balls or lumps of ice.

“The hail was so large that it damaged the roof of the greenhouse.”

“A sudden storm brought heavy hail that flattened the crops and dented several vehicles parked outside.”

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Literary

n. a large number of things, like bullets or insults, directed at someone all at once.

n. a rapid and intense barrage of objects or comments directed at a target.

“The politician faced a hail of angry questions from the crowd.”

“The retreating soldiers were met with a hail of gunfire from the ridge above the valley.”