wale

  1. Noun.  A ridge or low barrier.
  2. Noun.  A raised rib in knit goods or fabric, especially corduroy. (As opposed to course).
  3. Noun.  The texture of a piece of fabric.
  4. Noun.  (nautical) A horizontal ridge or ledge on the outside planking of a wooden ship. (See gunwale, chainwale).
  5. Noun.  A horizontal timber used for supporting or retaining earth.
  6. Noun.  A ridge on the outside of a horse collar.
  7. Noun.  A ridge or streak produced on skin by a cane or whip.
  8. Verb.  To strike the skin in such a way as to produce a wale.
  9. Verb.  To give a surface a texture of wales.
  10. Noun.  Something selected as being the best, preference; choice.
  11. Verb.  to choose, select.

This is an unmodified, but possibly outdated, definition from Wiktionary and used here under the Creative Commons license. Wiktionary is a great resource. If you like it too, please donate to Wikimedia.

This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.