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WALE

 - 5 dictionary results

wale

1  [weyl] noun, verb, waled, wal⋅ing.
Use WALE in a Sentence
–noun
1. a streak, stripe, or ridge produced on the skin by the stroke of a rod or whip; welt.
2. the vertical rib in knit goods or a chain of loops running lengthwise in knit fabric (opposed to course ).
3. the texture or weave of a fabric.
4. Nautical.
a. any of certain strakes of thick outside planking on the sides of a wooden ship.
b. gunwale.
5. Also called breast timber, ranger, waling. Engineering, Building Trades. a horizontal timber or other support for reinforcing various upright members, as sheet piling or concrete form boards, or for retaining earth at the edge of an excavation.
6. a ridge on the outside of a horse collar.
–verb (used with object)
7. to mark with wales.
8. to weave with wales.
9. Engineering, Building Trades. to reinforce or fasten with a wale or wales.
Origin:
bef. 1050; (n.) ME; OE walu ridge, rib, wheal; c. ON vǫlr, Goth walus rod, wand; (v.) late ME, deriv. of the n.

wale

2  [weyl] noun, verb, waled, wal⋅ing. Scot. and North England
–noun
1. something that is selected as the best; choice.
–verb (used with object)
2. to choose; select.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME wal(e) < ON val choice, velja to choose
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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wale   (wāl)   
n.  

  1. A mark raised on the skin, as by a whip; a weal or welt.

    1. One of the parallel ribs or ridges in the surface of a fabric such as corduroy.

    2. The texture or weave of such a fabric: a wide wale.

    3. A gunwale.

    4. One of the heavy planks or strakes extending along the sides of a wooden ship.

  3. Nautical

    1. A gunwale.

    2. One of the heavy planks or strakes extending along the sides of a wooden ship.

tr.v.   waled, wal·ing, wales
To raise marks on (the skin), as by whipping.

[Middle English, from Old English, variant of walu; see wel-2 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

wale 
O.E. walu "ridge," as of earth or stone, later "ridge made on flesh by a lash" (related to weal (2)); from P.Gmc. *walo (cf. Low Ger. wale "weal," O.Fris. walu "rod," O.N. völr "round piece of wood," Goth. walus "a staff, stick," Du. wortel, Ger. wurzel "root"). The common notion perhaps is "raised line." Used in reference to the ridges of textile fabric from 1583. Wales "horizontal planks which extend along a ship's sides" is attested from 1295.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

wale (wāl)
n.
A mark raised on the skin, as by a whip; a weal or welt. v. waled, wal·ing, wales
To raise marks on the skin, as by whipping.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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