impale
Americanverb (used with object)
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to fasten, stick, or fix upon a sharpened stake or the like.
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to pierce with a sharpened stake thrust up through the body, as for torture or punishment.
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to fix upon, or pierce through with, anything pointed.
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to make helpless as if pierced through.
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Archaic. to enclose with or as if with pales or stakes; fence in; hem in.
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Heraldry.
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to marshal (two coats of arms, as the family arms of a husband and wife) on an escutcheon party per pale.
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(of a coat of arms) to be combined with (another coat of arms) in this way.
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verb
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to pierce with a sharp instrument
they impaled his severed head on a spear
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archaic to enclose with pales or fencing; fence in
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heraldry to charge (a shield) with two coats of arms placed side by side
Other Word Forms
- impalement noun
- impaler noun
Etymology
Origin of impale
1545–55; < Medieval Latin impālāre, equivalent to Latin im- im- 1 + pāl ( us ) pale 2 + -ā- thematic vowel + -re infinitive ending
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The winner takes home a turnip impaled on a rusty six inch nail in a block of wood as a trophy and a blue plaque.
From BBC
An American, 47, reportedly tried to climb over a fence in Piazza del Colosseo, presumably to get a closer look at the Colosseum, before falling and impaling himself.
From Los Angeles Times
And when a Labrador retriever owned by another company officer gulped down a bagel impaled with a toothpick, he said, most of the resulting $10,5000 surgical bill was covered as well.
From New York Times
Michigan and Wisconsin hold sturgeon spearing seasons each winter as well where anglers drill holes through lake ice and impale sturgeon as they swim past.
From Seattle Times
The new 0.6-mile route replaces one general traffic lane of West Marginal Way Southwest with waist-high concrete dividers for the two-way bike lane, along with yellow-and-black steel attenuators that prevent drivers from impaling their cars.
From Seattle Times
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.
