What does "wale" mean?
Wale: A ridge or streak rising above the surface, as of cloth; hence, the texture of cloth. Thou 'rt rougher far, And of a coarser wale, fuller of pride. Beau & Fl.
Additional senses
- 2.(Carp.) A timber bolted to a row of piles to secure them together and in position. Knight.
- 3.(Naut.) (a) pl. Certain sets or strakes of the outside planking of a vessel; as, the main wales, or the strakes of planking under the port sills of the gun deck; channel wales, or those along the spar deck, etc. (b) A wale knot, or wall knot. Wale knot. (Naut.) See Wall knot, under 1st Wall.
- 4.To mark with wales, or stripes.
- 5.To choose; to select; specifically (Mining), to pick out the refuse of (coal) by hand, in order to clean it. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00