noun
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a fence made of pales
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pales collectively
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a single pale
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the act of erecting pales
Etymology
Origin of paling
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; pale 2, -ing 1
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.
That said, the approach adds texture to a film set during Carnival, the festival’s vibrancy paling in comparison to the creative exuberance on display.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025
What, you might ask, prompted this remark from the paling former personality?
From Salon • Feb. 25, 2023
But each of those fines was for just $6,949, paling in comparison to what Metcalf received for the incident with Baynes, and speaking to how the NFL views any verbal offenses directed at officials.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 22, 2022
Free agency is in its infancy in MLS, paling in the impact and intrigue that grips the NBA, NFL and MLB.
From Washington Post • Mar. 1, 2019
There was a wooden paling around it, broken by a small wooden gate, and at length—there being nobody in sight to ask—we walked through to the garden and so to the house.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
