impale

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im·pale / imˈpāl/ • v. [tr.] 1. pierce or transfix with a sharp instrument: his head was impaled on a pike and exhibited for all to see.2. Heraldry display (a coat of arms) side by side with another on the same shield, separated by a vertical line: [as adj.] (impaled) the impaled arms of her husband and her father. ∎  (of a coat of arms) adjoin (another coat of arms) in this way.DERIVATIVES: im·pale·ment n.im·pal·er n.

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