kale

noun

ˈkāl 

1

a

: a hardy cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) with curled often finely incised leaves that do not form a dense head

also : its leaves used as a vegetable

b

: cole

2

slang : money

Synonyms

• bread [slang]
• bucks
• cabbage [slang]
• cash
• change
• chips
• coin
• currency
• dough
• gold
• green
• jack [slang]
• legal tender
• lolly [British]
• long green [slang]
• loot
• lucre
• money
• moola [slang]
• moolah
• needful
• pelf
• scratch [slang]
• shekels
• sheqels
• shekelim
• shekalim
• sheqalim
• tender
• wampum

Examples of kale in a Sentence

trying to scrape up the kale to buy more dope

Recent Examples on the Web

This is the place to load up on fiber, with a weekend menu that includes an omelette filled with butternut squash and leeks, then topped with a kale and sesame salad, or a thick sourdough toast piled high with cannellini beans, roasted radicchio and hazelnuts, with dill sprinkled on top. —Valeriya Safronova, New York Times, 1 May 2025

Add the cabbage or kale and the white parts of the scallions. —Lynda Balslev, The Mercury News, 3 Mar. 2025

A couple of my favorites included a chicken tikka masala and crab cakes with potatoes and kale. —Sarah Garone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 25 Apr. 2025

Farm workers in a greenhouse plant tiny kale and marigold seeds into plastic trays, while others harvest leafy bunches of spinach. —Melanie Stetson Freeman, Christian Science Monitor, 22 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Scots, from Middle English (northern) cal, from Old English cāl — more at cole

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Phrases Containing kale

• sea kale

Rhymes for kale

• ail
• ale
• bail
• baile
• dail
• fail
• flail
• frail
• gael
• gail
• grail
• hail

Kids Definition

kale

noun

ˈkā(ə)l 

: a hardy cabbage with curly leaves that do not form a head