bale

¹

[ beyl ]

noun

1. a large bundle or package prepared for shipping, storage, or sale, especially one tightly compressed and secured by wires, hoops, cords, or the like, and sometimes having a wrapping or covering:

   a bale of cotton; a bale of hay.

2. a group of turtles.

verb (used with object)

, baled, bal·ing.

1. to make or form into bales:

   to bale wastepaper for disposal.

bale

²

[ beyl ]

noun

, Archaic.

1. evil; harm; misfortune.
2. woe; misery; sorrow.

bale

³

[ beyl ]

noun

1. bail ².

bale

⁴

[ beyl ]

verb (used with or without object)

, baled, bal·ing.

1. a spelling variant of bail ³( defs 1, 2, 4 ).

Bâle

⁵

[ bahl ]

noun

1. French name of Basel.

bale

¹

/ beɪl /

noun

1. a large bundle, esp of a raw or partially processed material, bound by ropes, wires, etc, for storage or transportation

   bale of hay

2. a large package or carton of goods
3. 500 pounds of cotton
4. a group of turtles
5. See wool bale
   See wool bale

verb

1. to make (hay, etc) into a bale or bales
2. to put (goods) into packages or cartons
3. to pack and compress (wool) into wool bales

Bâle

²

/ bɑl /

noun

1. See Basle
   the French name for Basle

bale

³

/ beɪl /

noun

1. evil; injury
2. woe; suffering; pain

bale

⁴

/ beɪl /

noun

1. See bail
   a variant spelling of bail 4

bale

⁵

/ beɪl /

verb

1. See bail
   a variant spelling of bail 2

Other Words From

• baleless adjective
• baler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bale¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-Latin bala, Anglo-French bale “pack, bale,” from unattested Frankish balla; compare Old High German balo, akin to balla; ball ¹

Origin of bale²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English bealu, balu; cognate with Old Norse bǫl, Old Saxon balu, Old High German balo, Gothic balw-; akin to Russian bolʾ “pain”

Word History and Origins

Origin of bale¹

C14: probably from Old French bale , from Old High German balla ball ¹

Origin of bale²

Old English bealu ; related to Old Norse böl evil, Gothic balwa , Old High German balo

Example Sentences

As a child, I spent every summer on that farm, jumping on hay bales and swimming and playing game after game of chess in the late-afternoon light.

From FiveThirtyEight

The compound has a straw bale home that fits six comfortably, in addition to a quaint wooden studio that sleeps two.

From Outside Online

He helped pile hay bales around the excavation trench to shield it from the wind.

From Popular-Science

He just wanted to bale hay and drink Pepsi and shell walnuts.

From Vox

Net-Works has set up a supply-chain in the Philippines in which local people are paid to collect discarded nets, bale them, and ship them out to be recycled into nylon threads that are subsequently woven into carpeting.

From Nautilus

With his anachronistic attitude toward the biblical story, Bale is just following the lead of his director.

From The Daily Beast

According to Bale, Moses was “one of the most barbaric individuals that I ever read about in my life.”

From The Daily Beast

Perhaps Christian Bale should be the first to take this advice to heart—at least the “sit down” part.

From The Daily Beast

But Bale appears to have concluded that Moses may have been more bad than good.

From The Daily Beast

Typical of the posts was one woman who suggested that if Christian Bale could play Moses, then maybe Idris Elba could play JFK.

From The Daily Beast

Each thing bore on his back a bale of goods, or a bar of metal, a burden sizeable enough for two ordinary men.

From Project Gutenberg

It takes 75,000 of them to make one bale of cotton, so I'm afraid you couldn't make even a handkerchief out of these.

From Project Gutenberg

There was also a large bale of things like cigarettes and gloves from other associations, but nothing to touch your consignments.

From Project Gutenberg

Every bale was turned over, and the length verified to ascertain the exact value of the remnant.

From Project Gutenberg

There was Old Slade, from over on the bluff opposite, slyly cutting a sliver of salt fish from one in the bale upon which he sat.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bundle