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.
a group of turtles.
evil; harm; misfortune.
woe; misery; sorrow.
a large bundle, esp of a raw or partially processed material, bound by ropes, wires, etc, for storage or transportation
bale of hay
a large package or carton of goods
500 pounds of cotton
a group of turtles
See wool bale
to make (hay, etc) into a bale or bales
to put (goods) into packages or cartons
to pack and compress (wool) into wool bales
evil; injury
woe; suffering; pain
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
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”
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Tracye also has a vivid memory of sitting on a bale of hay to watch her mother belly dance at Pleasure Faire.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 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
Now, the fields are green again, but as Mr Curtis takes me out in his tractor, he has a bale of silage on the front.
From BBC ● May 29, 2024
He pulled his undershirt over his head and a bale of laughs echoed ’round the tent.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
From that day to the peace of Bâle he held the army in his grasp.
From Lectures on the French Revolution by Figgis, John Neville
Bâle became a great centre of the silk trade.
From The Conquest of Bread by Kropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, kniaz
Thomas Lovell Beddoes was born in Clifton in 1803, and died at Bâle in Switzerland in 1849.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. 12, No. 32, November, 1873 by Various
He found that he could reach Bâle and sleep at Zurich that same evening.
From The Frontier by Teixeira de Mattos, Alexander
Besides, you forget my statue at the Bâle Congress.'
From Ghetto Comedies by Zangwill, Israel
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 ● Feb. 26, 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
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
Upstairs, children pore over schoolbooks, mothers prepare lunch and television sets flicker in cramped living rooms, all against the constant background noise of shredders whining and baling presses pounding below.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
He learned the ropes early and spent his childhood cleaning grain bins, baling hay and feeding the livestock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026
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
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
