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The homonyms hail and hale are easily confused. Be careful not to misspell these words in the expressions hail-fellow-well-met and hale and hearty.
Hail can be used as a noun or a verb.
As a noun, hail refers to frozen rain pellets.
In contrast, the verb hail means to call or summon.
Hail-fellow-well-met refers to a friendly, easygoing, gregarious person or manner.
The word hale can be used as a verb or as an adjective.
The verb has a nearly obsolete meaning of “haul” or “drag.”
The adjective hale has the meaning “healthy,” as in the expression hale and hearty.
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