Hail or Hale?

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Hail or Hale

What is the difference between "hail" and "hale"?
  • "Hale" describes an elderly person who is free from defect, disease, or infirmity. For everything else, use "hail."
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More about "Hail" and "Hale"

The words "hail" and "hale" are homonyms (specifically, homophones) because they sound identical. However, their meanings are quite different.

Hail

The word "hail" has five main meanings:

(1) To cheer, salute, and welcome.
  • The crowd hailed the heroes as they accepted their awards.
  • Let others hail the rising sun. I bow to that whose course is run. (Actor David Garrick)
(2) To call or attract attention.
  • When I'm a brunette, it's four times harder to hail a taxi. Then I go blonde again, and suddenly there are taxis everywhere. (Actress Sally Phillips)
  • Their best option was to hail a passing ship on the VHF radio.
(3) To come from. "To hail from" is a phrasal verb meaning to originate from somewhere.
  • Whether they hail from different cultures, countries or faiths, children are children. (Kimberly Quinn)
  • Nearly everyone here hails from the South.
(4) To pour down.
  • Bullets hailed down on the enemy as they advanced.
  • The court's decision was met with a hail of criticism.
    • (Here, "hail" is used figuratively.)
(5) A shower of frozen rain.
  • Insults are pouring down on me as thick as hail. (French painter Edouard Manet)
    • (Here, "hail" is being used as a noun.)
  • It hailed the night we slept in the tent.
    • (Here, "hail" is being used as a verb.)

Hale

The adjective "hale" is used to describe an older person who retains the physical qualities of youth. (In other words, they are free from defect, disease, or infirmity.) Examples:
  • My grandfather is hale and hearty. He walks for 4 miles almost every day.
  • My 82-year-old aunt is still hale and healthy.
Interactive Exercise
Here are three randomly selected questions from a larger exercise, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students.

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See Also

adverse or averse? affect or effect? appraise or apprise? avenge or revenge? bare or bear? complement or compliment? dependant or dependent? discreet or discrete? disinterested or uninterested? e.g. or i.e.? envy or jealousy? imply or infer? its or it's? material or materiel? poisonous or venomous? practice or practise? principal or principle? tenant or tenet? who's or whose? What are verbs? What are adjectives? What is figurative language? List of easily confused words