swale
[ sweyl ]
/ sweɪl /
noun Chiefly Northeastern U.S.
a low place in a tract of land, usually moister and often having ranker vegetation than the adjacent higher land.
a valleylike intersection of two slopes in a piece of land.
RELATED WORDS
mud, marshland, quagmire, morass, bog, gorge, canyon, basin, plain, lowland, glade, fen, mire, moor, marsh, slough, swampland, quag, polder, glen
Nearby words
- swain,
- swainson's hawk,
- swainson's thrush,
- swak,
- swakara,
- swaledale,
- swalk,
- swallet,
- swallow,
- swallow dive
Origin of swale
1400–50; late Middle English; originally a cool, shady spot, perhaps < Old Norse svalr cool, or svalir a covered porch
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for swale
swale
/ (sweɪl) /
noun
mainly US
- a moist depression in a tract of land, usually with rank vegetation
- (as modifier)swell and swale topography
Word Origin for swale
C16: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse svala to chill
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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swale
"low, hollow place, often boggy," 1580s, special use of Scottish swaill "low, hollow place," or dialectal East Anglian swale "shady place" (mid-15c.); both probably from Old Norse svalr "cool," from Proto-Germanic *swalaz.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper