bale

1 of 3

noun (1)

1
: great evil
2
: woe, sorrow
… bring us bale and bitter sorrowings …Edmund Spenser

bale

2 of 3

noun (2)

: a large bundle of goods
specifically : a large closely pressed package of merchandise bound and usually wrapped
a bale of paper
a bale of hay

bale

3 of 3

verb

baled; baling

transitive verb

: to make up into a bale
in the field baling hay
baler noun

Examples of bale in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
On the side of a hill just north of town stood a glowering Trump, rendered in hay bales painted red-white-and-blue. Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2024 The project came with the goal of producing over 4 million bales of climate-smart cotton over the course of five years. Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 6 Sep. 2024 In the coming months, the company plans to sink bales of the seaweed into deep water nearby and then monitor what happens in collaboration with researchers from the United Kingdom’s National Oceanography Centre. Bywarren Cornwall, science.org, 29 Aug. 2024 For mill use, the largest changes included those for China (-1.0 million bales to 38.0 million), Bangladesh (-200,000 bales to 7.8 million), Pakistan (+100,000 bales to 9.6 million), and Turkey (+100,000 bales to 7.6 million). Sj Guest Editorial, Sourcing Journal, 15 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for bale 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bale.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, "evil-doing, threat of evil, harm, destruction of life, torment, grief," going back to Old English bealu (neuter), genitive bealwes "evil-doing, malice, harm, destruction, torment," going back to Germanic *balwa- "evil," in both active and passive aspects (whence also Old Frisian bale- [in balemunda "disloyal guardian"], Old Saxon balu "wickedness," Middle Dutch bal- [in baldadich "wanton"], Old High German balo, palo "evil, disaster, treachery," Old Icelandic bǫl "misfortune," Gothic balwa- [in balwawesei "wickedness"]), noun derivative from neuter of an adjective *balwa- (whence Old English bealu "evil, pernicious"), going back to dialectal Indo-European *bhol-, whence also Old Church Slavic bolĭ "sick person," Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian bôl "pain," Russian bol'

Note: The etymon *bhol- is attested with certainty only in Germanic and Slavic, assuming that this comparison itself is correct. Proposed links with other Indo-European branches, as Celtic, are less convincing.

Noun (2)

Middle English, from Middle French, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German balla ball

Verb

derivative of bale entry 2

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1762, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bale was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near bale

Cite this Entry

“Bale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bale. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

bale

1 of 2 noun
: a large bundle of goods tightly tied for storing or shipping
a bale of cotton

bale

2 of 2 verb
baled; baling
: to make up into a bale
baler noun

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