Showing results for "bale"

• a variation of bail.

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• bale
  bale

  noun

  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.
• Bâle
  Bâle

  noun

  French name of Basel.

bale

¹ American  

[bayl] / beɪl /

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.

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verb (used with object)

baled, baling

1. to make or form into bales.

   to bale wastepaper for disposal.

bale ² American  

[bayl] / beɪl /

noun

Archaic.

1. evil; harm; misfortune.

2. woe; misery; sorrow.

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bale ³ American  

[bayl] / beɪl /

noun

1. bail.

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bale ⁴ American  

[bayl] / beɪl /

verb (used with or without object)

baled, baling

1. a spelling variant of bail.

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Bâle ⁵ American  

[bahl] / bɑl /

noun

1. French name of Basel.

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bale ¹ British  

/ 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

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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

bale ² British  

/ beɪl /

noun

1. evil; injury

2. woe; suffering; pain

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Bâle ³ British  

/ bɑl /

noun

1. the French name for Basle

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bale ⁴ British  

/ beɪl /

verb

1. a variant spelling of bail 2

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bale ⁵ British  

/ beɪl /

noun

1. a variant spelling of bail 4

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Other Word Forms

• baler
  noun
• baleless
  adjective

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Etymology

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; see 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”

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Explanation

A bale is a bound-up bundle, usually made of hay. When you drive past a farm in the fall, you'll often see bales of hay scattered across the fields. A bale is a compact, easy-to-move bundle of a crop like hay or cotton. Bales are formed in various shapes by a machine called a baler, and wrapped in twine or wire so they can be efficiently transported or stored. The word bale is Old French for "rolled-up bundle," from the same Germanic root as ball.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bale Bâle baled baling

It is now able to bale its own aluminum, cardboard, and other materials used and discarded at the arena from event days and gets a rebate from Waste Management for taking it off their hands.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

To visualize microscopic asbestos fibers in talcum powder, he brought a bale of hay into a courtroom and dropped a needle into the blades.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026

Minnesota is now moving toward allowing hempcrete and straw bale in all residential construction.

From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2026

Dente’s Verdant Structural Engineers was involved with getting straw bale approved as a building material and — along with advocates like Loescher — is pushing for the adoption of more nature-based materials into the code.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2025

George pointed out that the bale of hay was half-eaten.

From "Pony Problems: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #3" by Carolyn Keene

Rhineland, from Bâle to Wiesbaden, is under railway dominion.

From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 452 Volume 18, New Series, August 28, 1852 by Robert Chambers

About six miles from Bâle, on the river near its confluence with the Ergolz, is Augst, upon the site of the great Roman city of Augusta Rauracorum, founded in the reign of Augustus.

From Foot-prints of Travel or, Journeyings in Many Lands by Maturin Murray Ballou

Not until 1833 were the peasants of Bâle placed on an equal footing with the townspeople, and then only after serious disturbances.

From Direct Legislation by the Citizenship through the Initiative and Referendum by James William Sullivan

From Bâle we go on south-westwards to Geneva.

From From Pole to Pole A Book for Young People by Sven Anders Hedin

We learn from The Daily Call that, in proportion to the number of its inhabitants, Bâle is the richest city in Europe.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, October 14, 1914 by Various

"The pretence is that baled tyres are being sent to India and then shredded and granulated in a factory very similar to ours," explains Mr Mason.

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2025

If your balcony is on the breezy side, you can protect your plants by putting them behind tightly baled straw, or you can create a windbreak by securing burlap to the railing.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 30, 2021

Alfalfa was cut and baled for ranches across the Southwest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2021

Mr. Gilchrist said he still baled hay himself.

From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2019

After Palestine, when the cotton was in, baled and spoken for, Joe got married and worked even harder.

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison

The Florida Panthers professional hockey team bought its own baling machine last year, a $30,000 investment that also included two shipping containers.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

In a noticeable moment from “Cow,” a farmer baling hay strikes his pitchfork against a stone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025

"We got some really good ones of raking up and baling," Miss Burke said.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2025

As a young man in the 1980s, Jay, a farm boy with a golden tan and muscles chiseled from hay baling and house building, went to Washington to visit a friend.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2023

He could often be found baling hay and chopping wood at his country home on Long Island, refusing to let any physical limitations get in his way.

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple

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• bundle

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