WALE

wale, strake

(noun) thick plank forming a ridge along the side of a wooden ship

wale, welt, weal, wheal

(noun) a raised mark on the skin (as produced by the blow of a whip); characteristic of many allergic reactions

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology 1

Noun

wale (plural wales)

A ridge or low barrier.

A raised rib in knit goods or fabric, especially corduroy. (As opposed to course).

The texture of a piece of fabric.

(nautical) A horizontal ridge or ledge on the outside planking of a wooden ship. (See gunwale, chainwale)

A horizontal timber used for supporting or retaining earth.

A timber bolted to a row of piles to secure them together and in position.

A ridge on the outside of a horse collar.

A ridge or streak produced on skin by a cane or whip.

Verb

wale (third-person singular simple present wales, present participle waling, simple past and past participle waled)

To strike the skin in such a way as to produce a wale or welt.

To give a surface a texture of wales or welts.

Etymology 2

Noun

wale (plural wales)

(Scotland, northern England) Something selected as being the best, preference; choice.

Verb

wale (third-person singular simple present wales, present participle waling, simple past and past participle waled)

(Scotland, northern England) To choose, select.

Anagrams

• alew, e-law, lawe, weal

Source: Wiktionary

Wale, n. Etym: [AS. walu a mark of stripes or blows, probably originally, a rod; akin to Icel. völr, Goth. walus a rod, staff. sq. root146. Cf. Goal, Weal a wale.]

1. A streak or mark made on the skin by a rod or whip; a stripe; a wheal. See Wheal. Holland.

2. 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.

3. (Carp.)

Definition: A timber bolted to a row of piles to secure them together and in position. Knight.

4. (Naut.) (a) pl.

Definition: 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.

Wale, v. t.

1. To mark with wales, or stripes.

2. To choose; to select; specifically (Mining), to pick out the refuse of (coal) by hand, in order to clean it. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition