wale

¹ American  

[weyl] / weɪl /

noun

1. a streak, stripe, or ridge produced on the skin by the stroke of a rod or whip; welt.

2. the vertical rib in knit goods or a chain of loops running lengthwise in knit fabric (course ).

3. the texture or weave of a fabric.

4. Nautical.

   1. any of certain strakes of thick outside planking on the sides of a wooden ship.

   2. gunwale.

5. Also called breast timber,.  Also called ranger, waling.  Engineering, Building Trades. a horizontal timber or other support for reinforcing various upright members, as sheet piling or concrete form boards, or for retaining earth at the edge of an excavation.

6. a ridge on the outside of a horse collar.

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verb (used with object)

waled, waling

1. to mark with wales.

2. to weave with wales.

3. Engineering, Building Trades. to reinforce or fasten with a wale or wales.

wale ² American  

[weyl] / weɪl /

noun

1. something that is selected as the best; choice.

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verb (used with object)

waled, waling

1. to choose; select.

wale ¹ British  

/ weɪl /

noun

1. the raised mark left on the skin after the stroke of a rod or whip

2. 1. the weave or texture of a fabric, such as the ribs in corduroy

   2. a vertical row of stitches in knitting Compare course

3. nautical

   1. a ridge of planking along the rail of a ship

   2. See gunwale

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verb

1. to raise a wale or wales on by striking

2. to weave with a wale

wale ² British  

/ weɪl /

noun

1. a choice

2. anything chosen as the best

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adjective

1. choice

verb

1. (tr) to choose

Etymology

Origin of wale¹

First recorded before 1050; Middle English; Old English walu “ridge, rib, welt”; cognate with Old Norse vǫlr, Gothic walus “rod, wand”; wheal;

Origin of wale²

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English noun wal(e), from Old Norse val “choice,”

Example Sentences

The fugues, meanwhile, weave something more like the wale of a domestic fabric.

From Washington Post • Jan. 8, 2022

So there will be swimming, swinging, climbing, leaping and harpooning from tall, bent-steel pipes that form the ship and ribs of the great white wale.

From Washington Post • Nov. 17, 2016

The rapper then launched into a not-suitable-for-work rant against a former magazine editor who tweeted, “if i’m trump i’m pushing the narrative that obama really put wale on his playlist in an effort to undermine his administration.”

From Washington Post • Aug. 11, 2016

Resoled in Saratoga, riveting in a wide wale suit, I use law, Ed.

From Time • Apr. 4, 2015

Push the weaver through the wale, under the second row and out again, and once more wind across the handle bow.

From Construction Work for Rural and Elementary Schools by McGaw, Virginia