wale Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a raised mark on the skin (as produced by the blow of a whip); characteristic of many allergic reactions
    wheal; weal; welt.
  2. noun thick plank forming a ridge along the side of a wooden ship
    strake.

WordNet

Wale noun
Etymology
AS. walu a mark of stripes or blows, probably originally, a rod; akin to Icel. völr, Goth. walus a rod, staff. Cf. Goal, Weal a wale.
Definitions
  1. A streak or mark made on the skin by a rod or whip; a stripe; a wheal. See Wheal. Holland.
  2. A ridge or streak rising above the surface, as of cloth; hence, the texture of cloth.
    Thou 'rt rougher far, And of a coarser wale, fuller of pride. Beau & Fl.
  3. (Carp.) A timber bolted to a row of piles to secure them together and in position. Knight.
  4. (Naut.) (a) pl. Certain sets or strakes of the outside planking of a vessel; as, the main wales, or the strakes of planking under the port sills of the gun deck; channel wales, or those along the spar deck, etc. (b) A wale knot, or wall knot.
Wale transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To mark with wales, or stripes.
  2. To choose; to select; specifically (Mining), to pick out the refuse of (coal) by hand, in order to clean it. Prov. Eng. & Scot.

Webster 1913