Wale /(?)/

Wale

n.
  1. A streak or mark made on the skin by a rod or whip; a stripe; a wheal. See Wheal.
  2. A ridge or streak rising above the surface, as of cloth; hence, the texture of cloth.
    Thou 'rt rougher far, And of a coarser wale, fuller of pride.
  3. A timber bolted to a row of piles to secure them together and in position. (Carp.)
  4. Certain sets or strakes of the outside planking of a vessel; as, the main wales, or the strakes of planking under the port sills of the gun deck; channel wales, or those along the spar deck, etc. (Naut.)

Phrases & Compounds

Wale knot
See Wall knot, under 1st Wall.

Wale

v. t.
  1. To mark with wales, or stripes.
  2. To choose; to select; specifically (Mining), to pick out the refuse of (coal) by hand, in order to clean it. (Mining) [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]