pall
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Something that covers or surrounds like a cloak.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pahlIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɑl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
figuratively
Something that covers or surrounds like a cloak; in particular, a cloud of dust, smoke, etc., or a feeling of fear, gloom, or suspicion.
A heavy cloth laid over a coffin or tomb; a shroud laid over a corpse.
A pivoted catch designed to fall into a notch on a ratchet wheel so as to allow movement in only one direction (e.g. on a windlass or in a clock mechanism), or alternatively to move the wheel in one direction.
verb
transitive
To cloak or cover with, or as if with, a pall.
transitive
To make vapid or insipid; to make lifeless or spiritless; to dull, to weaken.
intransitive
To become dull, insipid, tasteless, or vapid; to lose life, spirit, strength, or taste.
To stop with a pawl.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To make vapid or insipid; to make lifeless or spiritless; to dull, to weaken.
Used this way, pall is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.