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• dale
  dale

  noun

  a valley, especially a broad valley.
• Dale
  Dale

  noun

  Sir Henry Hallett 1875–1968, English physiologist: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1936.

dale

¹ American  

[deyl] / deɪl /

noun

dales plural

1. a valley, especially a broad valley.

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Dale ² American  

[deyl] / deɪl /

noun

1. Sir Henry Hallett 1875–1968, English physiologist: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1936.

2. Sir Thomas, died 1619, British colonial administrator in America: governor of Virginia 1614–16.

3. a male or female given name.

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Dale ¹ British  

/ deɪl /

noun

1. Sir Henry Hallet. 1875–1968, English physiologist: shared a Nobel prize for physiology or medicine in 1936 with Otto Loewi for their work on the chemical transmission of nerve impulses

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dale ² British  

/ deɪl /

noun

1. an open valley, usually in an area of low hills

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Dale Scientific  

/ dāl /

1. British physiologist who discovered acetylcholine and, with Otto Loewi, investigated the chemical transmission of nerve impulses. For this work they shared the 1936 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dales
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dale

before 900; Middle English dal, Old English dæl; cognate with German Tal, Old Norse dalr, Gothic dals

Explanation

A dale is a valley, a wide, open area that stretches between hills. Some dales have rivers or streams flowing through them, while others are covered in grasses or other plants. When a geologist describes something as a dale or a valley, it is typically a low area that's longer than it is wide, and bordered on at least two sides by hills or mountains. Dales with rivers are often called "vales," while a very small dale is sometimes called a "hollow," pronounced "holler" in rural Appalachia. Dale comes from the Old English word for "valley," dæl.

Example Sentences

Officers were called by the London Ambulance Service to the property in Dale Grove, Finchley, just after midnight on Monday.

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026

Busch’s most famous public feud was with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the scion of racing royalty and Busch’s on-track nemesis.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 23, 2026

Busch was let go by Hendrick Motorsports after the 2007 season, making room for the team to sign Dale Earnhardt Jr.

From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026

We’re “solidly in a risk-on market regime,” said Darius Dale, CEO of 42 Macro, a risk management research firm.

From Barron's • May 7, 2026

One of the techniques advocated by Dale Carnegie was: find the man’s hobby.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom