swale

[ sweyl ]
See synonyms for swale on Thesaurus.com
nounChiefly Northeastern U.S.
  1. a low place in a tract of land, usually moister and often having ranker vegetation than the adjacent higher land.

  2. a valleylike intersection of two slopes in a piece of land.

Origin of swale

1
1400–50; late Middle English; originally a cool, shady spot, perhaps <Old Norse svalr cool, or svalir a covered porch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use swale in a sentence

  • There is an additional cause in that poor old Mr. Swales was found dead this morning on our seat, his neck being broken.

    Dracula | Bram Stoker
  • We floundered in swales sponging full of dead leaves, and drew back, scratching ourselves on low-hung foliage.

    Lazarre | Mary Hartwell Catherwood
  • They crossed swamps and wormed through alder swales, coming out again on pine and hardwood ridges.

    The Boss of Wind River | David Goodger (goodger@python.org)
  • They grow almost everywhere in the north and east,—along roadsides, in meadows and swales.

  • However, they saw only antelope and wolves on the plain, and deer and elk in the swales and along the base of the foothills.

    White Otter | Elmer Russell Gregor

British Dictionary definitions for swale

swale

/ (sweɪl) /


noun
  1. mainly US

    • a moist depression in a tract of land, usually with rank vegetation

    • (as modifier): swell and swale topography

Origin of swale

1
C16: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse svala to chill

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012