wail on

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

wail on (third-person singular simple present wails on, present participle wailing on, simple past and past participle wailed on)

1. (slang) Alternative form of whale on

   The wrench wouldn’t budge, even though Tony was just wailing on it with a big old sledge hammer.

   • 1968 July 7, Hunter S. Thompson, “To Jim Silberman, Random House”, in Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist, published 2000:

     I've had two sessions with the fellow I talked to today; a few weeks ago he got me off balance when my tape recorder failed and he never let me up ... but today I wailed on him, no mercy at all, and he blew it completely.

   • 2016, Neoma Nayrah, The Light Under the Door:

     I go straight for his head, and start wailing on him, with the broom.

   • 2017, Tanya Reimer, Cursed on the Prairies: a Sacred Land Story:

     He shoved Jessie off but Jessie came back and wailed on him something harsh. Russ curled up, taking the hits, remembering what Cal had said about how a guy could take a lot of hits, but he only had to give one to make his point.

References

• “wail on”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “wail”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.