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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  

[dayl] / deɪl /

noun

• dales
  plural

1. a valley, especially a broad valley.

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Dale ² American  

[dayl] / 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

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Etymology

Origin of dale

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

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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

See Examples For:

dale Dale dales

Seconds after retreating, Garcia steps out, holding the stick upright along with plastic bags filled with recyclables, asking Silva in Spanish: “Porque me quieres pegar? Dale, dale, pega me?”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026

Having gone uphill, they are heading down dale at velocity.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 11, 2021

Every two years, the call goes out from hill and dale: “This is the most important election of our lifetimes,” politicians trumpet to the crowds.

From Time ● Nov. 4, 2014

We measured the temperature and the insect abundance at... the top of the dale and it was too changeable and too inhospitable.

From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2013

Every glade and dale seemed to have just completed some massive cataclysm.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

And yet, breaking out of what MacLachlan refers to as “The Black Suit,” worn by his unceasingly chipper “Twin Peaks” character, Special Agent Dale Cooper, proved challenging.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Gov. Dale Caldwell after an independent investigation found he repeatedly violated state policy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Dale Mosher, his father, said he typically reacted poorly to the flu vaccine when he was required to get it while in the military.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

Last month, leading Dutch dictionary Dikke van Dale said it would include a new term for the labia, "vulvalippen" - in its upcoming online addition - alongside the traditional term "schaamlippen".

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

Ms. Dale doesn’t care to hear Axel’s reasons for not writing the report based on this technicality.

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers

Over the past four years, Graeme has become something of an expert in birds and spends many hours trying to find the best spots to see them in his native Durham dales.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2024

Read on for tips on where to find flowers, which wineries are on the up and how to stay satiated and well rested as you roam the region’s hills and dales.

From Seattle Times ● May 18, 2024

O’Connor leans heavily into that fusing of the inner and natural worlds: There’s lots of twirling about in “Emily,” often amid drenching rainstorms while cavorting on those aforementioned dales.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 22, 2023

The glory that now haloes the vineyard valleys of Sonoma and Santa Ynez, Alexander and Edna, the Russian River, and other dales and vales, once belonged to Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2022

But the strange trees were never seen in Deeping-coomb again; they had returned at night, and had gone far away to the dark dales of Fangorn.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

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