bale

/beɪl/

bale noun: evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death.

Image: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

bale (uncountable)

Evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death.
Suffering, woe, torment.
- That other ſwayne, like aſhes deadly pale,
  Lay in the lap of death, rewing his wretched bale.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, page 441
- Rome, and her Rats, are at the point of battell,
  The one ſide muſt haue baile.c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

Noun (2)

bale (plural bales)

(obsolete) A large fire, a conflagration or bonfire.
(archaic) A funeral pyre.
(archaic) A beacon-fire.

Noun (3)

bale (plural bales)

A rounded bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation.
- So having made up my mind, I packed up in bales a quantity of precious stuffs suited for sea-trade and repaired with them from Baghdad-city to Bassorah-town, where I found ship ready for sea, and in her a company of considerable merchants.1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 563
A bundle of compressed fibers (especially hay, straw, cotton, or wool), compacted for shipping and handling and bound by twine or wire.
- What I claim therein as new, and desire to be secured by Letters Patent is the within described apparatus for forming a bale of cotton under pressure on a spindle or revolving rod,...1847, editorial staff, “Packing and Pressing Cotton”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 3, Issue 9, page 68
A measurement of hay equal to 10 flakes. Approximately 70-90 lbs (32-41 kg).
A measurement of paper equal to 10 reams.
A block of compressed cannabis.
(collective) A group of turtles.
- The San Diego Freeway traffic is as slow as a bale of turtles.2011, Marla Martenson, Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker, Bettie Youngs Books
- A bale of turtles gathers on the waters edge at the newly opened Carpenter Creek Headwaters Park on Olive Road in Escambia County in March 20, 2026.2026 March 28, Gregg Pachkowski, “See turtles galore at newly opened Carpenter Creek Headwaters Park”, in Pensacola News Journal, archived from the original on 26 Jul 2026

Verb (1)

bale (third-person singular simple present bales, present participle baling, simple past and past participle baled)

(transitive) To wrap into a bale.

Verb (2)

bale (third-person singular simple present bales, present participle baling, simple past and past participle baled)

(UK) To remove water from a boat with buckets etc.

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Bale

Bale

A surname.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Bale

Bale

A municipality of Croatia.

bale meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

bale in Tamil

சுருளை, பேரழிவைத் தரும் தீ, கேடு, தீங்கு, அழிவு, துன்பம்

bale in Marathi

bale, bundle, stack: गठ्ठा gaṭhṭhā

bale in Bengali

bale: গাঁট gãṭ

More languagesFewer languages

bale in Telugu: బేలు bēlu
bale in Malayalam: ബെയിൽ, കെട്ട്, ഭാണ്ഡം, മാറാപ്പ്
bale in Kannada: ಹೊರೆ, ಪಿಂಡಿ, ಮೂಟೆ, ಕಟ್ಟು
bale in Punjabi: گٹھا gaṭṭhā, ਗੰਢ gaṇḍh, ਗੱਠ gaṭṭha, گنڈھ gaṉḍh
bale in Gujarati: બેલેઈંગ
bale in Assamese: মুঠা mutha
bale in Pashto: انډی anḍáy
bale in Indonesian: bal
bale in Persian: بغچه boġče, بلغنده balġande

Examples of bale in a sentence

A captivating video of a 'bale' of turtles seemingly engaged in a meeting has taken the internet by storm2025 August 21, ToI Trending Desk, “Video of a group of turtle in an unusual pattern goes viral”, in Times of India, archived from the...
This bale of turtles is the last of the original group to be released.2021 June 21, Allen Brewer, “Turtle update: Last seven rescued sea turtles will be released on Thursday”, in WLOX, archived from the...

All 30 example sentences with bale

Forms of bale

Noun
plural	bales
Verb
third-person singular present	bales
present participle	baling
past participle	baled
past	baled

Plural of bale: bales

Origin of bale

From Middle English bale (“evil”), from Old English bealu, from Proto-West Germanic *balu, from Proto-Germanic *balwą. Cognate with Low German bal- (“bad, ill”), Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌻𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (balweins, “torture”), Old High German balo (“destruction”), Old Norse bǫl (“disaster”).

From Middle English bale (“pyre, funeral pyre”), from Old English bǣl (“pyre, funeral pyre”), from Proto-Germanic *bēlą (“pyre”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine; gleam; sparkle”). Cognate with Old Norse bál (which may have been the direct source for the English word).

From Middle English bale (“bale”), from Old French bale and Medieval Latin bala, of Germanic origin. Doublet of ball.

Words formed from bale

Phrases with bale

bale out

Words that rhyme with bale

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about bale

What does bale mean?: Bale means evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death.
What is bale in Tamil?: Bale in Tamil is சுருளை, பேரழிவைத் தரும் தீ, கேடு. See Bale meaning in Tamil.
How do you use bale in a sentence?: A captivating video of a 'bale' of turtles seemingly engaged in a meeting has taken the internet by storm
What part of speech is bale?: Bale can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce bale?: Bale is pronounced /beɪl/.
What is the plural of bale?: The plural of bale is bales.

Words near bale in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-bale.ogg.

Cite this entry: “bale.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bale. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.