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  

[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

• baler
  noun
• baleless
  adjective

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”

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

Jeffs wide brush sat in a pool of yellow on the tarp below a half-painted hay bale.

From "George" by Alex Gino

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

From Ghetto Comedies by Israel Zangwill

Bâle became a great centre of the silk trade.

From The Conquest of Bread by Petr Alekseevich Kropotkin, Prince

From that day to the peace of Bâle he held the army in his grasp.

From Lectures on the French Revolution by John Neville Figgis

Coming from the Lake of Constance, the clear waters of the river glide under the bridges of Bâle, and turn at right angles northwards between the Vosges and the Black Forest.

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

Of the principal cities, in 1887, Zurich, with suburbs, had 92,685 inhabitants; Bâle, 73,963; Geneva, with suburbs, 73,504; Berne, 50,220; Lausanne, 32,954; and five others from 17,000 to 25,000.

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

They continue to arrive from the US, Canada, Europe and Asia, baled up in shipping containers.

From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026

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

Both recalled joining the adults as they baled hay for Mr. Scoggins’s father, and breaking for midday dinner.

From New York Times ● Jul. 4, 2021

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

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison

Eventually, all these materials wind up at one of four baling machines that compress them into giant blocks, which then get moved around the facility’s storage area by crew-operated forklifts.

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

Flower People corrals plants by placing parallel rows of 5-foot-tall posts every 10 feet along a row and wrapping the perimeter with sturdy baling twine.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 27, 2024

“You in Hob now,” Moses told Cora one afternoon when she came in from helping with the baling.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

Related Words

• bundle