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pale
1[ peyl ]
adjective
- (of a person or a person's skin)
- light-colored or lacking in color:
a pale complexion; his pale face; a pale child.
- lacking the usual intensity of color due to fear, illness, stress, etc.:
She looked pale and unwell when we visited her in the nursing home.
Antonyms: ruddy
- of a low degree of chroma, saturation, or purity; approaching white or gray:
pale yellow.
- not bright or brilliant; dim:
the pale moon.
- faint or feeble; lacking vigor:
a pale protest.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
- to make pale.
pale
2[ peyl ]
noun
- a stake or picket, as of a fence.
- an enclosing or confining barrier; enclosure.
- an enclosed area.
outside the pale of his jurisdiction.
- a district or region within designated bounds.
- (initial capital letter)
- Also called Eng·lish Pale [ing, -glish , peyl],. a district in eastern Ireland included in the Angevin Empire of King Henry II and his successors.
- Also called Pale of Set·tle·ment [peyl, , uh, v , set, -l-m, uh, nt]. the territories in the Russian Empire in which Jews were allowed to live.
- Heraldry. an ordinary in the form of a broad vertical stripe at the center of an escutcheon.
- Shipbuilding. a shore used inside to support the deck beams of a hull under construction.
verb (used with object)
- to enclose with pales; fence.
- to encircle or encompass.
pale
1/ peɪl /
adjective
- lacking brightness of colour; whitish
pale morning light
- (of a colour) whitish; produced by a relatively small quantity of colouring agent
- dim or wan
the pale stars
- feeble
a pale effort
- a euphemism for White
verb
- to make or become pale or paler; blanch
- introften foll bybefore to lose superiority or importance (in comparison to)
her beauty paled before that of her hostess
pale
2/ peɪl /
noun
- a wooden post or strip used as an upright member in a fence
- an enclosing barrier, esp a fence made of pales
- an area enclosed by a pale
- a sphere of activity within which certain restrictions are applied
- heraldry an ordinary consisting of a vertical stripe, usually in the centre of a shield
- beyond the paleoutside the limits of social convention
verb
- tr to enclose with pales
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Derived Forms
- ˈpaleness, noun
- ˈpalely, adverb
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Other Words From
- palely adverb
- paleness noun
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Word History and Origins
Origin of pale1
Origin of pale2
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Word History and Origins
Origin of pale1
Origin of pale2
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Idioms and Phrases
- beyond the pale, beyond the limits of proper behavior, courtesy, protection, safety, etc.:
Their public comments are certainly beyond the pale.
More idioms and phrases containing pale
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Synonym Study
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Example Sentences
“He turned pale, trembled to a great degree, was much agitated, and began to cry,” she told the court.
The pale, baby-faced, red-cheeked rapper is furiously puffing away at a hastily-made blunt crammed with low-grade weed.
But the flaws and peccadilloes of Renaissance artists like Michelangelo pale beside the misdeeds of patrons and pontiffs.
Still, at each stage of jazz history certain kinds of sounds were beyond the pale.
“I turned completely ashen, completely pale,” Beck remembers.
Louis stood firm, though pale and respectful, before the resentful gaze of Elizabeth.
Babylas raised his pale face; he knew what was coming; it had come so many times before.
She observed his pale looks, and the distracted wandering of his eyes; but she would not notice either.
He returned shortly, to meet his mother standing in the doorway, with pale, affrighted face.
“You must leave this house this moment,” she cried, with a stamp, with gleaming eyes and very pale.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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