bale

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈbāl 

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

Experts recommend using two 60-pound bales of straw per 1,000 square feet. —Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Apr. 2025

In 1931, the family could only get a penny and a half for a bale of cotton. —Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2025

Verb

What doesn’t get sold from Goodwill or Salvation Army gets baled up and sold to textile buyer, likely to also end up in another country. —Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2025

On February 26, 2025, two deceased dogs were found discarded in trash bags bound by orange baling twine along Burns Road in Midway. —Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Mar. 2025

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 *b^hol-, whence also Old Church Slavic bolĭ "sick person," Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian bôl "pain," Russian bol'

Note: The etymon *b^hol- 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

Phrases Containing bale

• bale out

Rhymes for bale

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

Kids Definition

bale

1 of 2 noun

ˈbā(ə)l 

: 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