| wale | 1. A streak or mark made on the skin by a rod or whip; a stripe; a wheal. See Wheal. 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. A timber bolted to a row of piles to secure them together and in position. 4. 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. A wale knot, or wall knot. Wale knot. See Wall knot, under 1st Wall. Origin: AS. Walu a mark of stripes or blows, probably originally, a rod; akin to Icel. Volr, Goth. Walus a rod, staff. Cf. Goal, Weal a wale. 1. To mark with wales, or stripes. 2. <chemical> To choose; to select; specifically, to pick out the refuse of (coal) by hand, in order to clean it. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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