bale

views updated May 29 2018

bale / bāl/ • n. a bundle of paper, hay, cotton, etc., tightly wrapped and bound with cords or hoops: the fire destroyed 500 bales of hay. ∎  the quantity in a bale as a measure, esp. 500 pounds of cotton.• v. [tr.] make (something) into bales: they baled a lot of good hay | [as n.] (baling) most baling and field work have been finished. bale2 • n. archaic or poetic/lit. evil considered as a destructive force. ∎  evil suffered; physical torment or mental suffering.

bale

views updated May 23 2018

bale. Type of tomb found in the Cotswolds in England, essentially an altar-tomb supporting a stone half-cylinder resembling a woollen bale.

Bale

views updated May 23 2018

Bale

a large bundle or package; a measure of varying quantity, 1502.

Examples: bale of cloth; of coffee [two to two and a half hundred-weight]; of cotton; of crown paper [14 reams]; of dice [a pair or set], 1822; of turtlesLipton, 1970.

bale

views updated May 14 2018

bale2 bundle, package. XIV. prob. — MDu. bale (Du. baal) — OF. bale (mod. balle); ult. identical with BALL1.

bale

views updated Jun 11 2018

bale1 evil, harm. OE. balu (bealu) = OHG. balo, ON. bǫl :- Gmc. *balwam, n. of adj. *balwaz. Cf. Goth. balwawesei wickedness. The OE. word was reinforced in ME. by ON. bǫl, bal-.

bale

views updated Jun 08 2018

bale3 lade out. XVII. Later sp. of bail (XVII), f. †bail sb. vessel for lading water (XV) — OF. baille bucket, prob.:- Rom. *bajula, fem. of L. bājulus carrier.