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

She changed course and will now be going with a construction method known as straw bale, which typically entails stacking bales of straw to form walls that are coated with plaster.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2025

Tiller pressed his hand to his chest and sank onto a hay bale.

From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech

From Bâle we take the railway southward to Lausanne, situated on the borders of Lake Geneva, where we find a population numbering some thirty-three thousand.

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

In May, while seeking restoration in the purer air of Bâle, his horse fell with him, and his left leg was so badly broken that amputation became necessary.

From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. 12, No. 32, November, 1873 by Various

The Prince de Schwartzemberg was marching toward Bâle.

From The Son of Monte-Cristo by Jules Lermina

From Bâle we go on south-westwards to Geneva.

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

Besides, you forget my statue at the Bâle Congress.'

From Ghetto Comedies by Israel Zangwill

He baled hay, trimmed Christmas trees and otherwise worked on his family’s farm.

From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2024

At its height, huge flames tore through the former steel factory, which housed a mountain of baled waste, and thick plumes of black, acrid smoke billowed above the building's skeleton.

From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2023

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

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

S&W Atlas Iron & Metal had processed scrap metal in Watts since 1949, shredding and baling aluminum cans, steel rims and copper wire.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2025

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

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2025

That morning, like every morning, he had hitched up his trousers with a yard of baling twine, which is smooth and slippery, and needs a horseman’s knot to stay in place.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

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