hale

¹ American  

[heyl] / heɪl /

adjective

haler, halest

1. free from disease or infirmity; robust; vigorous.

   hale and hearty men in the prime of life.

   Synonyms:

   healthy , sound

   Antonyms:

   sickly

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hale ² American  

[heyl] / heɪl /

verb (used with object)

haled, haling

1. to compel (someone) to go.

   to hale a man into court.

2. to haul; pull.

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hale ³ American  

[hah-ley] / ˈhɑ leɪ /

noun

1. (in Hawaii) a simple thatched-roof dwelling.

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Hale ⁴ American  

[heyl] / heɪl /

noun

1. Edward Everett, 1822–1909, U.S. clergyman and author.

2. George Ellery 1868–1938, U.S. astronomer.

3. Sir Matthew, 1609–76, British jurist: Lord Chief Justice 1671–76.

4. Nathan, 1755–76, American soldier hanged as a spy by the British during the American Revolution.

5. Sarah Josepha 1788–1879, U.S. editor and author.

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Hale ¹ British  

/ heɪl /

noun

1. George Ellery. 1868–1938, US astronomer: undertook research into sunspots and invented the spectroheliograph

2. Sir Matthew. 1609–76, English judge and scholar; Lord Chief Justice (1671–76)

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hale ² British  

/ heɪl /

adjective

1. healthy and robust (esp in the phrase hale and hearty )

2. dialect  whole

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hale ³ British  

/ heɪl /

verb

1. (tr) to pull or drag; haul

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Other Word Forms

• haleness noun
• haler noun

Etymology

Origin of hale¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English (northern and Scottish); Old English hāl “sound, uninjured”; whole, heal ( def. )

Origin of hale²

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English hal(l)en, hailen “to drag, pull,” from Old French haler, from Germanic; compare Dutch halen “to pull, fetch”; akin to Old English geholian “to get, obtain,” German holen “to fetch”; haul

Origin of hale³

First recorded in 1885–90; from Hawaiian; literally, “house, hall, building”

Example Sentences

He has gone to lengths to appear hale, skiing with a professional snowboarder and with an Olympic gold medalist who called him a “ripper” as they raced down the mountain.

From New York Times

During the 1918–19 flu pandemic, however, doctors and other observers noted a high death toll among young, presumably hale adults.

From Science Magazine

Keep that in mind when taking the pulse of broadcast and cable in its current state, which is far from hale and hearty.

From Salon

“Unsurprisingly, corporations did not relish the prospect of being haled into court for any claim anywhere they conducted business,” he wrote.

From New York Times

Gaining any new clarity about surging reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, will take time, better data gathering and diagnostic tools and, perhaps most importantly, a hale and hearty dose of nit-picking scientific scrutiny.

From Scientific American