▪ I. wale, n.1
(weɪl)
Forms: 1 walu, 5–6 Sc. waill, 6–7 waile, 7 wayle, (waale, wael, weale), 6 Sc., 8–9 wail, (6 Sc. vale), 8–9 whale; 5 walle, 6–8 wall; 4– wale.
[OE. walu str. fem. (also wk. pl. walan), mark of a lash, weal; also, in charters, used as a topographical term, perh. ridge, bank (of stone or earth). A sense ‘stripe’ appears to be implied by the derivative waled (tr. L. histriatus, app. mistaken for striatus striped).
Cf. LG. wale (wale, wâl, Doornkaat-Koolman), Du. dial. woal, mark of a lash, weal (= sense 2). The other senses below are peculiar to Eng. The identity of the word in its various senses is not quite certain, but the assumption of ‘raised line or strip’ as the primary sense plausibly accounts for all the recorded applications. The relation of the word to OTeut. *walu-z rod, wand (Goth. walu-s, ON. vǫl-r, MSw. val, OFris. walu, NFris. waale) is uncertain.]
† 1. A ridge (of earth or stone). Only OE.
| 1024 in Kemble Cod. Dipl. IV. 31 Of ðam beorᵹe suþ on ða ealdan wale, swa on corf ᵹetes westran cotan of ðam cotan suþ be wale on ðære dice hyrnan. 1045 Ibid. IV. 98 Ofer ðone hæðfeld in stanwale; andlang ðære wale on ðone portweᵹ. Ibid. V. 334 On ða eastlangan dicwale. |
2. a. The mark or ridge raised on the flesh by the blow of a rod, lash, or the like. = weal n.2
The form weal, now more usual, is due to confusion with wheal a pustule, swelling, which is often misused for wale.
| a 1100 Aldh. Glosses in Napier OE. Gl. 3466 Uibices. i. uerbera, walan. Ibid. 4487 Uibices, wala. Ibid. 4759 Uibice, wale. Ibid. 5365 Asperæ inuectionis, stiþra wala. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. lxxiv. (1869) 103, J keepe him that he haue no peyne and that ther be no wales in the hondes. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 113 Saynt Barnard yn Cristys person..sayth þus:..I haue my body for thy loue full of gret walus. 1521 Whitindon Gramm. (1523) C iij, Vibex, a wale of a rodde. 1530 Palsgr. 286/1 Wall of a strype, enfleure. 1598 Bp. Hall Sat. iv. i, Shall then that foule infamous Cyneds hide Laugh at the purple wales of others side? 1609 Bible (Douay) Isa. liii. 5 With the waile of his stripe [Vulg. livore ejus] we are healed. c 1611 Chapman Iliad ii. 232 He..strooke, his backe and shoulders so, That bloody wales rose. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 101 Ye shall have him as proud of the Wales on his Back, as a Holy Land Pilgrim is of a Jerusalem Print. 1797 Underwood Dis. Childhood I. 106 The..lower limbs..are found covered with large wales, resembling those arising from the sting of nettles. 1867 Pusey Eleven Addresses vi. (1908) 65 The traces of the Crown of thorns,..the wales of the scourges. 1868 J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. I. 384 His back was striped with the wales of such frequent scourging. |
| fig. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 558 The wales, marks, scarres and cicatrices of sinne and vice remaine to be seene. |
† b. Misused for wheal. Obs. rare—1.
| 1589 [R. Harvey] Pl. Perc. 5 What, what, latine in the mouth of a plaine fellow? Nay I wot neere, but it hath left behind it a wale in my throate like a strange bodylouse in an vnknowne pasture. 1847 Halliwell, Wale, (9) A tumour or large swelling. Kent. 1887 in Kentish Gloss. |
3. a. Textile-manuf. A ridge or raised line (consisting of a thread or threads) in a textile fabric; also collect. with epithet, as indicating the texture of a particular fabric. Cf. waled a. and waling glass s.v. wale v.1
| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 24 To lay down the wooll so close, as you can hardly see any wale. 1604 W. Terilo Friar Bacon's Prophesie xxxiv. C 2 b, A Hose with a good waile. 1607 Middleton Mich. Term ii. iii. D 2 b, By my troth exceeding good cloath, a good wale t'as. 1662 Evelyn Chalcogr. 120 It does not at all concern the tissue, Tenor or range of the Threads, and Wales (as they call them) which is easily imitated. 1668 T. Rokeby Let. 28 Sept. in Mem. (Surtees Soc.) 16 My wife desires to fix you either to a farandine or a mohaire with a small weale [for a gown]. 1675 Let. fr. E.I. Co. to Factors Fort St. George Dec. (MS.), Theis Musters You now Sent Us appeare to be all Taffety Wale. 1684 Patent Office No. 241 Lines or creases resembling the Wale of Tabby or Mohaire. 1696 J. F. Merch. Ware-ho. laid open 13 A sort of Callico-Dimetty..Wove with a Wale like a plain Dimetty. 1755 Johnson, Wale, a rising part in the surface of cloth. 1828–32 Webster, Wale, in cloth, a ridge or streak rising above the rest. We say, cloth is wove with a wale. 1886 Beck Draper's Dict., Wale, a ridge on the surface of cloth. |
| fig. 1587 Gascoigne Herbs Posies (1907) 329 The feeble thred which Lachesis hath sponne, To drawe my dayes in short abode with thee, Hath wrought a webbe which now (welneare) is donne, That wale is worne. 1611 Beaumont & Fl. Four Plays (1647) 271 Thou art rougher far, and of a courser wale, fuller of pride. |
b. transf. A stripe (of colour).
| 1891 Hardy Tess xlvi, The wide acreage of blank agricultural brownness..was beginning to be striped in wales of darker brown, gradually broadening to ribands. |
4. Naut. a. A piece of timber extending horizontally round the top of the sides of a boat; the gunwale.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 12062 Cordes, kyuiles, atached þe wale. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 740 Wyghtly one the wale thay wye vp thaire ankers. c 1440 J. Capgrave St. Kath. 642 As with-inne the wale Of a stronge ship a man is bore a-loft. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 514/1 Wale, of a schyppe, ratis. c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 134 Her on the waill ner by the I sall stand. 1513 Douglas æneis v. iv. 76 With sa strang rowthis apon athir waill, The mychty kervell schudderit at euery straik. 1530 Palsgr. 286/1 Wall of a shyppe. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 251 Scho was ten fute thik in the waill. 1709 Lond. Gaz. No. 4510/7 The Hoy Burthen 9 or 10 Tun,..with a clean Tail, a rounding Wale. 1716 B. Church Hist. Philip's War (1867) II. 131 That..upon the Wail of each [Whale-]Boat five pieces of strong Leather be fastened on each side. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 405/1 Describe the curve TMS to represent the sheer or extreme height of the side [of a long boat], which in a ship would be called the..upper edge of the wale. 1857 [Colquhoun] Comp. Oarsman's Guide 28 The narrow piece of wood running round the sax-board outside, but now generally disused, is called a wale. |
b. pl. The horizontal planks or timbers, broader and thicker than the rest, which extend along a ship's sides, at different heights, from stem to stem; also called bends (see bend n.4 6); also sing., each of such timbers.
For chain, channel, main, sheer wales, see chain-wale, channel n.2 2, main a. 11, sheer n.2 3.
| 1295 Acc. Exch. K.R. 5/8 m. 8 Empcio meremii..Et x. d. in ij Wales emptis de Anselmo Carpentario. 1336–7 Ibid. 19/31 m. 5 Et in vj. lignis emptis ad eandem pro Wales et bindes inde faciendis..vj. s. 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 292 Tymbre for bemys walys & other Necessaries in the seid Ship. 1534 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. V. 233 For valis to cover abone the boit, viij d. 1536 in R. G. Marsden Sel. Pleas Crt. Adm. I. (1894) 58 The sterne of the same cock bote was faste under on of the wales of the said catche. 1627 Capt. Smith Sea Gram. ii. 6 From bend to bend, or waile to waile, which are the outmost timbers on the ship sides. 1664 E. Bushnell Shipwright 7 The next Waale parallel to the lower Waale. a 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais iii. lii. 429 Bends and Walls [Fr. rambades] of his Carricks. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. iv. 158 They found her wales and out⁓side planks extremely defective. 1824 J. F. Cooper Pilot xxiv. II. 303 Such a point-blanker would have torn off a streak of our wales. 1881 Hardy Trumpet-Major xxvi, Boats built of wood which was greenly growing..three days before it was bent as wales to their sides. 1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys 11 Q. What are bends? A. The thickest and strongest planks on the outward part of a ship's side,..They are more properly called wails. |
5. Each of the horizontal timbers connecting and bracing the piles of a dam, etc. Also, = waling 1.
| 1754 T. Gardner Hist. Acc. Dunwich 179 Except Plank upon the Head of the Key, and under the upper Wale, and Plank to join the piles. 1837 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 33/1 The wales are to be in two thicknesses, of half-timbers,..bolted to the gauge piles. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 80 These are called guide piles, and to these horizontal timbers are attached, called wales. 1886 H. C. Seddon Builder's Work i. 7 When the ground is firm enough to admit of it, deep and narrow trenches..may be secured by horizontal planks or wales, placed opposite each other..and kept apart by struts. 1926 A. E. Wynn Design & Construction of Formwork viii. 84 Above 6 ft. high there is always danger of the form twisting..from the impact of the concrete if wales are not used. 1964 R. L. Peurifoy Formwork for Concrete Structures ix. 158 The bottom wale should be placed not more than 8 in. above the bottom of the form. |
6. Basket-making. Each of the horizontal bands round the body of a basket composed of rods intertwined as a finishing-off course.
| 1907 T. Okey in Jrnl. Soc. Arts 11 Jan. 190/2 A wale is three or more rods woven one after and over the other to form a binding or string course. Ibid., I was interested to find [in an old Egyptian basket] the same strokes—the fitch, the pair, the border, slath, and wale—I had been using yesterday. |
7. A ridge on a horse's collar: see quot. 1794.
| 1794 W. Felton Carriages (1801) II. 139 The Neck Collar is a padded collar made to fit and sit easy round the horse's neck—it has 2 wales or risings on the outside, called the fore and back wales. 1847 Halliwell. 1895 E. Angl. Gloss. 1908 N. & Q. 10th Ser. X. 146/2, I was told by one of the workmen that the rolls or ridges of a horse-collar between which the hames lie are called respectively the fore⁓wale and the afterwale. |
8. Comb.: wale-piece, † (a) a piece of timber to serve as the gunwale of a boat; (b) a horizontal timber connecting and binding the piles or posts of a bridge, dam, etc.; † wale-reared a. = wall-sided; † wale-stock, -tree, ? a piece of timber to serve as a gunwale; wale-streak, the gunwale of a boat.
| 1350 Acc. Exch. K.R. 25/32 (P.R.O.) En xxxvij piec' de mesrime achat' pour *wale piecen, wale stockez et fotwalen. 1739 C. Labelye Piers Westm. Bridge 20 The Plates, Whale-Pieces, Ties and Braces that had been contrived to keep them steady. 1839 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 432/1 Allowing a space of not less than 12 inches wide between the wale pieces, for the piles to fill up the bays between the wale pieces. |
| c 1635 N. Boteler Dial. Sea Services (1685), *Wale reared. 1644 H. Manwayring Sea-mans Dict. 113 Wale-reared, that is, when a ship is built right up, after she comes to her bearing. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Wale-reared, an obsolete phrase, implying wall sided. 1350 *Wale stockez [see wale piece above]. |
| 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports ii. viii. iii. 474/2 Here he [the coxswain] must sit cross-legged..with a hand on each gun⁓wale or *wale-streak. |
| 1485 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 72 *Wale trees..ij, Hausers..ij. 1488 Acc. & Inv. 72 (P.R.O.) Waletrees. |
▪ II. wale, n.2 Sc. and north.
(weɪl)
Forms: 3 wal, 4 wall, 5 wail, 5–6 waill, 6 waylle, 8–9 wile, 9 waile, 3– wale.
[a. ON. val neut., corresponding to OHG. wala (MHG. wal, mod.G. wahl) str. fem., f. Teut. root *wal-, *wel-: see will v.]
1. The action or an act of choosing; choice. Also, scope for choice, plurality of things to choose from.
Before the 17th c. recorded only poet., chiefly in certain set phrases: at wale, to wale, at one's choice, in abundance; men of wale, men of high merit; worthy in wale or to wale, of approved valour. (By some writers of the 15–16th c. to wale in the last phrase seems to have been taken as the inf. of wale v.1)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 4353 If..þat þou mi lefe wald be; O werldes welth to wale and wan Sal þou haf mare þan mai be gan. Ibid. 5375. Ibid. 7629 And of a thusand men o wal, He made him ledder and marscal. a 1352 Minot Poems v. 77 Sir Edward, oure gude King wurthi in wall. a 1400 Sir Perc. 1587 When he had tolde this tale..He hade wordis at wale To thame ilkane. c 1400 Destr. Troy 11952 He russhit vp full radly, raght to his clothes, Soche as happit hym to hent, hade he no wale. c 1440 York Myst. ii. 55 Als ye I haue honours in alkyn welth to wale. c 1450 Holland Houlate 447 With lordis of Scotland, lerit, and the laif As worthy, wysest to waile, in worschipe allowit. c 1470 Golagros & Gaw. 211 Wynis went within that wane, maist wourthy to vaill. 1513 Douglas æneis v. xii. 37 Thar wes na strenth of valeant men to waill. 1637 Rutherford Let. to Lady Kenmure (1664) 29, I will have no other tutor, suppose I could have waile & choise of ten thousand beside. 1808 Jamieson s.v., He gaif me the wale, he allowed me to choose. 1847 De Quincey Notes on Landor Wks. 1859 IX. 297 Our Arab friend, however, is no connoisseur in courts of law: small wale of courts in the desert. 1858–61 Ramsay Remin. (1867) 167 There's nae waile o' wigs on Monrimmon Moor. 1894 Crockett Raiders xxxiii, She's a wonderfu' woman, the mistress; no the like o' her in the three counties. She micht hae had the wale o' the men. |
b. Coupled with will.
| c 1420 Anturs of Arth. xxvii, With alle welthis to wille, and wynus to wale. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 147 [He] mycht in the time that he feit him have had otheris at will and wale. 1742 R. Forbes Ajax (1755) 11 Lat him than now tak will an' wile. 1836 J. Affleck Poet. Wks. 81 (E.D.D.), I've sheets and blankets, will and wale, I'm nae deaf nit. |
2. That which is chosen or selected as the best; the choicest individual, kind, specimen, etc.
| 1513 Douglas æneis vii. v. 188 The King Latyne, but faill, Gart cheis of all his steidis furth the waill. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 399 Ane great airme..to the number of l{supm} men the waill of all Ingland. 1717 Ramsay Elegy on Lucky Wood xi, She was the wale of a' her kin. 1786 Burns Ordination vi, For lapfu's large o' gospel kail Shall fill thy crib in plenty, An' runts o' grace the pick an' wale. 1815 Scott Guy M. lv, The Bertrams were aye the wale o' the country side! 1842 J. Aiton Dom. Econ. (1857) 262 The best way to get one, and the wale of them, is to intercept one of the packs which are driven from the northern markets. 1887 Stevenson Merry Men v. Wks. 1895 VIII. 166 It's the pride of the eye, and it's the lust o' life, an' it's the wale o' pleesures. |
▪ III. † wale, n.3 Obs. rare.
[? var. of weel n.:—OE. wǽl.]
? A wave, current.
| 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. ii. 16 And Doris with hir daughters all: of which some cut the wales [1587 wals; rhyme whales] With splaied armes. 1636 James Iter Lanc. 323 (1845) 11 Threescore miles from wale Of sea at Conyngton was found a whale Vppon a high downes. |
▪ IV. † wale, a. Obs.
Also 3 wal, 4 walle.
[f. wale n.2]
Used as a general laudatory expression: Chosen; choice, select; excellent, noble, goodly. a. of a person, his attributes, actions, etc.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 888 Sodomes king in kinge dale, Mette abram wið feres wale. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1010 Bot ȝet I wot þat Wawen & þe wale burde Such comfort of her compaynye caȝten to-geder. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 294 ‘Þan will I,’ quod þe wale qwene. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1329 The Troiens..blody beronyn, Wyde woundes & wete of hor wale dyntes. a 1500 Bernard. de cura rei fam. etc. (E.E.T.S.) iii. 149 And wander in A winter tyme wyth full wale knychtis. 1515 Scottish Field 385 in Chetham Misc. (1856), It is a losse to the lande,..For his witte and his wisedome, And his wale deedes. 1790 J. Fisher Poems 102 Ae simmer e'en baith wale an' trig,..doun the rig A lad cam' to the Fitman-brig. |
| absol. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xi. 38 A wayle whyt as whalles bon. |
b. of a thing.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3635 Bokes he wrot of lore wal, Hu ðis folc hem riȝt leden sal. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1716 Bifore þe barounz has hom broȝt, & byrled þerinne [sc. the holy vessels] Wale wyne to þy wenches. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 741 By wytt of the watyre-mene of the wale ythez, ffrekes one the forestayne fakene theire coblez. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 75 Þan was a wardan ware oute in þe wale stremys Of all þe naue & þe note. c 1400 Destr. Troy 694 She went from þat worthy into a wale chambur. Ibid. 1943 He..wound vp full wightly all his wale Ancres. |
▪ V. wale, v.1 Sc. and north.
(weɪl)
Forms: 4–6 walle, 4–5 weyle, 5–8 waill, 5–9 wail, 6 vale, vaile, weale, 7 wayl, weil, wehl, weal(l, 6–9 wyle, 8–9 wile, 9 wyell, 4– wale.
[f. wale n.2 Cf. wele v. (The form wehl was prob. due to G. wählen, † wehlen.)]
1. trans. To choose, select, pick out, sort. Also with out, through.
| a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. ix. 33 Mosti ryden by Rybbesdale, Wilde wymmen forte wale, ant welde wuch ich wolde. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 999 Iasper hyȝt þe fyrst gemme, Þat I on þe fyrst basse con wale. c 1400 Destr. Troy 105 That worthy hade a wyfe walit hym-seluon. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 1014 Wale ȝow oþer werriouris þat wiȝt ere & ȝonger. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 895 In gret ire he apon thaim sadly socht, Wailland a place quhar he mycht bargane mak. 1496 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 319 Item..giffin to Johne Maware, to pas to Clidisdale, to the woddis, to wale tymmyr for the artailȝeri, ix s. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 530 Of ther thre wantoun wiffis, that I haif writtin heir, Quhilk wad ȝe wail to ȝour wif? 1513 Douglas æneis ii. i. 10 Of chost men syne, walit by cutt, thai tuik Ane greit nwmir. 1537 in Exch. Rolls Scot. XVII. 741 That ye cause..Patrik Tennent waill our sa[i]d woll, sort, and pak the samin. 1625 A. Gill Sacr. Philos. xii. 192 The Poet gives you an example of a Gardiner, wehling his seeds being mingled together. 1637 Rutherford Let. to Lady Kenmure (1664) 30 But more I can neither wish, nor pray, nor desire for to your La: then Christ singled and wailed out, from all created good things. 1674 in Scott. Hist. Rev. (1907) Jan. 232 Buy me a good handsom Caudibeck hatt..pray sie that it be good and weall wyled. 1737 Ramsay Sc. Prov. ii. 35 (1750) 7 A lass that has mony wooers aft wales the warst. 1785 Burns Cotter's Saturday Nt. xii, Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide, He wales a portion with judicious care. 1821 Carlyle Let. 17 Nov., Early Lett. (1886) II. 4 To beg that you will accept the brown pair of spectacles which I have waled for you. 1832 Scott Redgauntlet let. xii, Come away, chap—come away, gentle chap—nae time to be picking and waling your steps. 1873 C. Gibbon Lack of Gold xi, I said I would wail a man for you myself. 1888 D. Grant Sc. Stories 30 A bodie canna aye wyle his words. 1894 Northumbld. Gloss s.v., Wale me an orange... To wale one's way. |
b. to wale by, to choose and put by.
| 1789 Ross Helenore i. (ed. 3) 53 Bannocks and kebbocks knit up in a claith, She had wiled by, and row'd up in her waith. |
c. Coal-mining. (See quot. 1881.)
| 1860 Eng. & For. Mining Gloss., Waling, cleaning the coals. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Wale, Newc. To clean coal by picking out the refuse by hand. |
2. intr. To make choice.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1276 ‘I-wysse, worþy,’ quoth þe wyȝe, ‘ȝe haf waled wel better’. 1786 Burns Halloween iv, They steek their een, an' graip an' wale For muckle anes, an' straught anes. 1826–30 T. Wilson Pitman's Pay iii. cxvi, Through and through the bowl they wyell—For raisins, how they stritch and strive! |
† 3. trans. ? To seek. Obs. rare—1.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 398 Where schulde I wale þe, quod Gauan, where is þy place? |
Hence ˈwaling vbl. n.; also attrib. as waling glass (see quot. 1880).
| 1625 A. Gill Sacr. Philos. i. 12 Every seed encreaseth by the earth and moisture thereof, which cannot be but with a wehling out, or choice of things that are homogeneous, or of parts like thereto. 1634 Rutherford Let. to Lady Kenmure 29 Apr., It should be of your wailing and not of his. 1880 Antrim & Down Gloss., Waling glass, a weaver's counting glass, which magnifies a small portion of the surface of linen, and thus enables the set or count to be ascertained. |
▪ VI. wale, v.2
(weɪl)
Also whale.
[f. wale n.1]
1. trans. To mark (the flesh) with wales or weals.
| 14.. in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 245 A wycked wound hath me walled [rimes called, halt, salt], And traveyld me from topp to too. 1634 Bp. Hall Contempl. N.T., Christ bef. Pilate 263 O my blessed Saviour, was it not enough that thy sacred body was stripped of thy garments, and waled with bloudy stripes? 1661 Feltham Resolves ii. lxxxv. (ed. 8) 375 Would the Horse..suffer his lazy Rider to bestride his patient back, with his hands and whip to wale his flesh? |
2. ‘To fasten, secure, or protect with a wale or wale piece’ (Webster 1911).
| 1909 E. Essex Advertiser Aug., Suppl. 4/3 The wharf..is..built with piles and strongly whaled. |
3. a. Mil. To weave or wattle (a gabion, hurdle). b. Basket-making. To intertwine (rods) in making a wale (see wale n.1 6); also ‘to furnish (a basket) with a wale or wales’ (Webster 1911).
| 1842 Burn Nav. & Mil. Techn. Dict., Clayonner, to wattle, wale. 1892 F. Irwin Notes Fortif. (ed. 2) 60 To make a Wickerwork Gabion... Wale the web by passing each rod in succession over the other two..till the waling is 2-ft. 6-in. high. 1907 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 11 Jan. 190/2 The foot rods are waled and then laid down as in a border. |
Hence waled ppl. a., marked with weals. ˈwaling vbl. n. Mil., the process of making a gabion or hurdle; also, the basket-work thus made; also attrib. as waling rod.
| 1842 Burn Nav. & Mil. Techn. Dict., Clayon, a..waling-rod. Clayonnage, wattling;..waling. 1885 Pall Mall Gaz. 31 Mar. 6/2 A horrible vision of a waled back would come before my eyes and the swish of that terrible whip would sound in my ears. 1892 G. Philips Text-bk. Fortif. iii. iii. (ed. 5) 88 In brushwood gabions the basket work is called the web, and the process of making it is termed waling. 1892 [see 3 above]. |
▪ VII. † wale, int. Obs.
[repr. OE. wá lá: see wo, lo, and wellaway intr.]
Alas! woe is me!
| c 1205 Lay. 12952 Ah wale þat hit nusten Costantines cnihtes. Ibid. 25859 Wale [c 1275 wola] þat ich wes iboren. |
▪ VIII. wale
see vale n.1, veil n.1, wail v., wall n.1, well n., whale.