wale

Noun

wale (plural wales)

1. A ridge or low barrier.
2. A raised rib in knit goods or fabric, especially corduroy. (As opposed to course)
3. The texture of a piece of fabric.
4. (nautical) A horizontal ridge or ledge on the outside planking of a wooden ship. (See gunwale, chainwale)
5. A horizontal timber used for supporting or retaining earth.
6. A timber bolted to a row of piles to secure them together and in position.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

7. A ridge on the outside of a horse collar.
8. A ridge or streak produced on skin by a cane or whip.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Holland to this entry?)

Verb

wale (third-person singular simple present wales, present participle waling, simple past and past participle waled)

1. To strike the skin in such a way as to produce a wale.
   • 1832: Owen Felltham, Resolves, Divine, Moral, Political

     Would suffer his lazy rider to bestride his patie: back, with his hands and whip to wale his flesh, and with his heels to dig into his hungry bowels?

   • 2002: Hal Rothman, Neon Metropolis: How Las Vegas Started the Twenty-First Century

     When faced with an adulthood that offered few options, grinding poverty and marriage to a man who drank too much and came home to wale on his own family or...no beatings.

2. To give a surface a texture of wales.

See also

• whale
• weal
• wheal

Noun

wale (plural wales)

1. Something selected as being the best, preference; choice.

Verb

wale (third-person singular simple present wales, present participle waling, simple past and past participle waled)

1. to choose, select.

Alternative forms

• wælh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /waːl/

Noun

wale

1. (rare) An outsider; a guest; one from an unfamiliar land.
2. (rare) A thrall; a hireling.

Alternative forms

• walle, wala

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaːl(ə)/

Noun

wale (plural wales)

1. A wooden board used for creating the exterior of a vessel; planking.
2. (rare) A welt; an injury created by use of a whip or a similar weapon.
3. (rare) A lesion; a boil.

Alternative forms

• wayle, wall, wal

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /waːl/

Noun

wale

1. A selection or possibility; a decision.
2. (rare) A preference; something chosen due to its quality.

Adjective

wale

1. amazing, of great quality or talent.
2. pleasing, nice, enjoyable, benevolent
3. strong, firm, strengthy
4. (negatively) impactful, grievous, melancholy
5. (rare) decided, resolved, picked.

Noun

wale

1. Alternative form of wal

Verb

wale

1. Alternative form of walen

Conjugation