WAILING
lamenting, wailing, wailful
(adjective) vocally expressing grief or sorrow or resembling such expression; “lamenting sinners”; “wailing mourners”; “the wailing wind”; “wailful bagpipes”; “tangle her desires with wailful sonnets”- Shakespeare
wailing, bawling
(noun) loud cries made while weeping
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
wailing (plural wailings)
A loud drawn out scream or howl.
Verb
wailing
present participle of wail
Source: Wiktionary
WAIL
Wail, v. t. Etym: [Cf. Icel. val choice, velja to choose, akin to
Goth. waljan, G. wählen.]
Definition: To choose; to select. [Obs.] "Wailed wine and meats." Henryson.
Wail, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wailed; p. pr. & vb. n. Wailing.] Etym:
[OE. wailen, weilen, probably fr. Icel. væla; cf. Icel. væ, vei, woe,
and E. wayment, also OE. wai, wei, woe. Cf. Woe.]
Definition: To lament; to bewail; to grieve over; as, to wail one's death.
Shak.
Wail, v. i.
Definition: To express sorrow audibly; to make mournful outcry; to weep.
Therefore I will wail and howl. Micah i. 8.
Wail, n.
Definition: Loud weeping; violent lamentation; wailing. "The wail of the
forest." Longfellow.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition