Library / English Dictionary

ENTAIL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of entailing property; the creation of a fee tail from a fee simple

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("entail" is a kind of...):

change (the action of changing something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Land received by fee tail

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("entail" is a kind of...):

acres; demesne; estate; land; landed estate (extensive landed property (especially in the country) retained by the owner for his own use)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Limit the inheritance of property to a specific class of heirs

Synonyms:

entail; fee-tail

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "entail" is one way to...):

bequeath; leave; will (leave or give by will after one's death)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Impose, involve, or imply as a necessary accompaniment or result

Example:

What does this move entail?

Synonyms:

entail; implicate

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "entail" is one way to...):

lead (tend to or result in)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Have as a logical consequence

Example:

The water shortage means that we have to stop taking long showers

Synonyms:

entail; imply; mean

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "entail" is one way to...):

necessitate (cause to be a concomitant)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

entailment (something that is inferred (deduced or entailed or implied))

Credits

 Context examples: 

Still, I should have thought that you might have found a more probable one, and one which would entail less serious consequences.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A field of human genetics which entails the reliable prediction of certain human disorders as a function of the lineage and/or genetic makeup of any two parents or potential parents.

(Medical Genetics, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Anabolism entails the construction of complex organic molecules from simpler precursors, while catabolism involves the breakdown of complex substances into simpler molecules.

(Metabolic Process, NCI Thesaurus)

As you will readily understand, a specialist who aims high is compelled to start in one of a dozen streets in the Cavendish Square quarter, all of which entail enormous rents and furnishing expenses.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Cognitive frailty is a heterogeneous clinical manifestation characterized by the simultaneous presence of both physical frailty and cognitive impairment, in the absence of dementia, and it seems to entail a greater death risk than physical frailty or cognitive impairment separately.

(Engaging in physical activity could reduce long-term mortality, University of Granada)

When I was alone once more, however, with the precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility which it entailed upon me.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

During lunch he told us that Mrs. Westenra had for some time expected sudden death from her heart, and had put her affairs in absolute order; he informed us that, with the exception of a certain entailed property of Lucy's father's which now, in default of direct issue, went back to a distant branch of the family, the whole estate, real and personal, was left absolutely to Arthur Holmwood.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

At any rate, we may take it as a hypothesis and see what consequences it would entail.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For your sake, turning to Charlotte, I am glad of it; but otherwise I see no occasion for entailing estates from the female line.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

How fearful were the curses those propensities entailed on me!

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)