wailer.html - n. & v.
--n.

1 a prolonged plaintive inarticulate loud high-pitched cry of pain, grief, etc.
2 a sound like or suggestive of this.

--v.

1 intr. utter a wail.
2 intr. lament or complain persistently or bitterly.
3 intr. (of the wind etc.) make a sound like a person wailing.
4 tr. poet. or rhet. bewail; wail over.

Wailing Wall a high wall in Jerusalem said to stand on the site of Herod's temple, where Jews traditionally pray and lament on Fridays.

wailer n. wailful adj. poet. wailingly adv. [ME f. ON, rel. to WOE]

wailer.html - See: LIE IN WAIT.

wailer.html - {v. phr.} To serve food. * /Mrs. Lake had to teach her new maid to wait on table properly./ * /The girls earn spending money by waiting at table in the school dining rooms./

wailer.html - {v. phr.} To serve in every possible way; do everything for (someone). * /Sally is spoiled because her mother waits on her hand and foot./ * /The gentlemen had a valet to wait on him hand and foot./ Compare: HAND AND FOOT.

wailer.html - See: WAIT AT TABLE.

wailer.html - {v. phr.} To not go to bed until a person one is worried about comes home (said by parents and marriage partners). * /My mother always waited up for me when I went out as a young student./ * /She always waits up for her husband when he's out late./