Waal

American  

[vahl] / vɑl /

noun

1. a river in the central Netherlands, flowing W to the Meuse River: the center branch of the lower Rhine. 52 miles (84 km) long.

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Waal British  

/ waːl /

noun

1. a river in the central Netherlands: the S branch of the Lower Rhine. Length: 84 km (52 miles)

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Example Sentences

The titular “hare with the amber eyes” in Edmund de Waal’s memoir is a netsuke, a tiny Japanese carving intended as a fastener for use with a kimono.

From The Wall Street Journal

When Mr. de Waal, a British ceramicist, inherited 264 of these netsuke from a relative in the 1990s, he became fascinated by their artistry—and their provenance.

From The Wall Street Journal

Following the trail of these minuscule treasures back in time, Mr. de Waal traced the history of his forbears among the Ephrussis, a Jewish banking family that grew prosperous in the 19th century.

From The Wall Street Journal

Now in Mr. de Waal’s possession, the carvings spark a meditation on the painful nature of inheritance: “This is the strange undoing of a collection, of a house and of a family. It is the moment of fissure when grand things are taken and when family objects, known and handled and loved, become stuff.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Alex de Waal, author of Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine, argues that intent is often indirect: “There can be an indirect intent, where it’s evident that starvation will occur in the normal course of events—and those responsible know it, yet choose not to prevent it.”

From Slate