bale

¹ American  

[beyl] / 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  

[beyl] / beɪl /

noun

Archaic.

1. evil; harm; misfortune.

2. woe; misery; sorrow.

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bale ³ American  

[beyl] / beɪl /

noun

1. bail.

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bale ⁴ American  

[beyl] / 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

• baleless adjective
• baler noun

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; 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”

Example Sentences

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

Richard Hodgson, who farms at Howick in Northumberland, says soil from the mole hills can also get picked up and incorporated into the bales of hay or silage, which "ruins the quality".

From BBC

Like all dairy farmers, Gordon uses the good weather in spring and summer to grow and cut silage - grass that will be baled and used as fodder for the herd over winter.

From BBC

Walking over to the hardware part of the store, Grandpa picked up six small steel traps and a piece of baling wire.

From Literature

With the hip replacements, he’s limber enough to climb into the large machinery needed to harvest crops, spray pesticides, plant seeds and move hay bales that weigh roughly 1,000 pounds each.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bundle