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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

entail

/ɛnˈteɪl/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:03
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What does entail mean?

verb

  1. To imply, require, or invoke.
  2. To settle or fix inalienably on a person or thing, or on a person and his descendants or a certain line of descendants; -- said especially of an estate; to bestow as a heritage.

noun

  1. That which is entailed.
More meanings (4)

noun

  1. An estate in fee entailed, or limited in descent to a particular class of issue.
  2. The rule by which the descent is fixed.
  3. (obsolete) Delicately carved ornamental work; intaglio.

verb

  1. (obsolete) To appoint hereditary possessor.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ɛnˈteɪl/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other dictionary pronunciations

/ɪnˈteɪl//ənˈteɪl/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

God wishes here to teach that mothers can injure their children or entail on them vices before they are born.
Carry Amelia NationThe Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. NationProject Gutenberg ebook #1485
Thus it seemed that a possible delay of forty-eight hours might entail a greater leakage of gas than could be afforded.
John M. (John Mackenzie) BaconThe Dominion of the Air: The Story of Aerial NavigationProject Gutenberg ebook #861
More book examples (3)
These two proposals are not necessarily inseparable, nor does either entail the whole system of Anarchism, though without them Anarchism would hardly be possible.
Bertrand RussellProposed Roads to FreedomProject Gutenberg ebook #690
“I cannot bear to think that they should have all this estate. If it was not for the entail, I should not mind it.”
Jane AustenPride and PrejudiceProject Gutenberg ebook #1342
We soon learnt to handle both vessel and sounding machine in such a way as to entail the least possible strain on the wire.
Douglas, Sir MawsonThe Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914Project Gutenberg ebook #6137