bale

views updated May 29 2018

bale / bāl/ • n. a bundle of paper, hay, cotton, etc., tightly wrapped and bound with cords or hoops: the fire destroyed 500 bales of hay. ∎ the quantity in a bale as a measure, esp. 500 pounds of cotton.• v. [tr.] make (something) into bales: they baled a lot of good hay | [as n.] (baling) most baling and field work have been finished. bale² • n. archaic or poetic/lit. evil considered as a destructive force. ∎ evil suffered; physical torment or mental suffering.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

bale

views updated May 23 2018

bale. Type of tomb found in the Cotswolds in England, essentially an altar-tomb supporting a stone half-cylinder resembling a woollen bale.

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture JAMES STEVENS CURL

Bale

views updated May 23 2018

Bale

a large bundle or package; a measure of varying quantity, 1502.

Examples: bale of cloth; of coffee [two to two and a half hundred-weight]; of cotton; of crown paper [14 reams]; of dice [a pair or set], 1822; of turtles—Lipton, 1970.

Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms

bale

views updated May 14 2018

bale2 bundle, package. XIV. prob. — MDu. bale (Du. baal) — OF. bale (mod. balle); ult. identical with BALL1.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

bale

views updated Jun 11 2018

bale1 evil, harm. OE. balu (bealu) = OHG. balo, ON. bǫl :- Gmc. *balwam, n. of adj. *balwaz. Cf. Goth. balwawesei wickedness. The OE. word was reinforced in ME. by ON. bǫl, bal-.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

bale

views updated Jun 08 2018

bale3 lade out. XVII. Later sp. of bail (XVII), f. †bail sb. vessel for lading water (XV) — OF. baille bucket, prob.:- Rom. *bajula, fem. of L. bājulus carrier.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD