bale

1 a large bundle bound for storage or transport

2 a city in northwestern Switzerland [syn: Basel, Basle] v : make into a bale; "bale hay"

English

Pronunciation

/beɪl/

• Rhymes: -eɪl

Homophones

bail

Etymology 1

Old English bealo, from Germanic *balwo. Cognate with Old High German balo ‘destruction’, Old Norse bǫl ‘disaster’.

Noun

1. Evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death.
2. Suffering, woe, torment.

Derived terms

• baleful

Etymology 2

Old English bǣl, from Germanic *bālo, from Indo-European. Cognate with Old Norse bál (which may have been the direct source for the English word).

Noun

1. A large fire, a conflagration or bonfire.
2. A funeral pyre.
3. A beacon-fire.

Derived terms

• balefire

Etymology 3

Precise derivation uncertain: perhaps from Old French bale, balle, from mediaeval Latin balla ‘ball, rounded package’; or perhaps from Flemish bale (modern Dutch baal), itself borrowed from French.

Noun

1. A rounded bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation; a bundle of compressed wool or hay, compacted for shipping and handling.
2. A measurement of hay equal to 10 flakes. Approximately 70-90 lbs (32-41 kg).
3. A measurement of paper equal to 10 reams.

Verb

1. To wrap into a bale.

Etymology 4

Alternative spelling of bail.

Verb

1. (nautical) To remove water from a boat with buckets etc.

Anagrams

• able

Turkish

Noun

bale

1. ballet

Bale can refer to any of the following:

Places

• Basel, the Swiss city, for which the French name is Bâle
• Bale, Istria, Croatia
• Balé Province, Burkina Faso
• Bale Province, Ethiopia, a former province in Ethiopia
• Bale Zone in Oromia, Ethiopia
• Bale, Norfolk in England
• A fictional city The Legend of Dragoon for Playstation

People

• Christian Bale, Welsh-born actor
• Edward Turner Bale, English physician
• John Bale, English churchman and playwright
• Gareth Bale, Young Welsh footballer for Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Industrial packaging

• Hay bale or straw bale, in farming, bound by a baler
• Paper bale, a unit of paper measurement equal to ten reams
• A compressed package of any one of a variety of textiles, such as

• Wool bale
• Cotton

Other

• Akar-Bale language
• bale, an archaic synonym for evil
• bale, a bale of rocks, which is a group of rocks.
• to "bale out" is to exit an airborne aircraft while wearing a parachute (presumably from the resemblance of a backpack parachute to a hay bale). Also spelled bail (as in exiting an untenable situation.)
• Bale, also spelt bail, to mess up a skateboarding move while performing it. Also known as a Bail/Bale Out.
• Bale, also spelt bail. A jewellery findings item (jewellery findings are components regularly used in the manufacture of jewellery). A bale is a component which is used to attach or suspend a pendant or similar from a chain or other item. A bale will commonly be in the form of a triangular loop which can be clipped or soldered on to a ring.

See also

• Bail, a homophone of "bale"
• Baal

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