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paling

8 dictionary results for: Paling

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

pal·ing

[pey-ling] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	Also called paling fence. picket fence.

2.	a pale or picket for a fence.

3.	pales collectively.

4.	the act of building a fence with pales.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME; see pale², -ing¹

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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pale1

[peyl] Pronunciation Key adjective, pal·er, pal·est, verb, paled, pal·ing.

–adjective

1.	lacking intensity of color; colorless or whitish: a pale complexion.

2.	of a low degree of chroma, saturation, or purity; approaching white or gray: pale yellow.

3.	not bright or brilliant; dim: the pale moon.

4.	faint or feeble; lacking vigor: a pale protest.

–verb (used without object), verb (used with object)

5.	to make or become pale: to pale at the sight of blood.

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME < MF < L pallidus pallid

]

—Related forms

palely, adverb

paleness, noun

—Synonyms 1. Pale, pallid, wan imply an absence of color, esp. from the human countenance. Pale implies a faintness or absence of color, which may be natural when applied to things, the pale blue of a violet, but when used to refer to the human face usually means an unnatural and often temporary absence of color, as arising from sickness or sudden emotion: pale cheeks. Pallid, limited mainly to the human countenance, implies an excessive paleness induced by intense emotion, disease, or death: the pallid lips of the dying man. Wan implies a sickly paleness, as after a long illness: wan and thin; the suggestion of weakness may be more prominent than that of lack of color: a wan smile. 5. blanch, whiten.

—Antonyms 1. ruddy. 5. darken.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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pale2

[peyl] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, paled, pal·ing.

–noun

1.	a stake or picket, as of a fence.

2.	an enclosing or confining barrier; enclosure.

3.	an enclosed area.

4.	limits; bounds: outside the pale of his jurisdiction.

5.	a district or region within designated bounds.

6.	(initial capital letter) Also called English Pale, Irish Pale. a district in eastern Ireland included in the Angevin Empire of King Henry II and his successors.

7.	an ordinary in the form of a broad vertical stripe at the center of an escutcheon.

8.	Shipbuilding. a shore used inside to support the deck beams of a hull under construction.

–verb (used with object)

9.	to enclose with pales; fence.

10.	to encircle or encompass.

—Idiom

11.	beyond the pale, beyond the limits of propriety, courtesy, protection, safety, etc.: Their public conduct is certainly beyond the pale.

[Origin: 1300–50; ME (north), OE pāl < L pālus stake. See peel³, pole¹

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pale¹ (pāl) Pronunciation Key

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n.

A stake or pointed stick; a picket.
A fence enclosing an area.
The area enclosed by a fence or boundary.
1. A region or district lying within an imposed boundary or constituting a separate jurisdiction.
2. Pale The medieval dominions of the English in Ireland. Used with the.
Heraldry A wide vertical band in the center of an escutcheon.

tr.v. paled, pal·ing, pales
To enclose with pales; fence in.

[Middle English, from Old French pal, from Latin pālus; see pag- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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pale² (pāl) Pronunciation Key
adj. pal·er, pal·est

Whitish in complexion; pallid.
1. Of a low intensity of color; light.
2. Having high lightness and low saturation.
Of a low intensity of light; dim or faint: "a late afternoon sun coming through the el tracks and falling in pale oblongs on the cracked, empty sidewalks" (Jimmy Breslin).
Feeble; weak: a pale rendition of the aria.

v.   paled, pal·ing, pales

v.   tr.
To cause to turn pale.

v.   intr.

To become pale; blanch: paled with fright.
To decrease in relative importance.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pallidus, from pallēre, to be pale; see pel-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

pale'ly adv., pale'ness n.

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pal·ing (pā'lĭng) Pronunciation Key
n.