noun

bale

bayl

noun

A large, tightly bound bundle of material such as hay, straw, cotton, or paper, prepared for storage or transport.

"The farmer stacked the bales of hay in the barn before winter."

"Each bale of cotton weighed close to two hundred kilograms."

verb

To bundle something tightly into a bale.

"They baled the straw as soon as the field had dried out."

How to Use Bale

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA large bundled block of material like hay or cotton, or the act of bundling it that way.

Common mistake

Don't confuse with "bail," meaning to release someone from custody on payment, or to scoop water out of a boat.

Easily confused with

bail →

Common pairings

a bale of hay bale the straw

Word Forms

baled past tense, baled past tense, bales plural, bales plural, bales singular, bales singular

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The farmer stacked the _____ of hay in the barn before winter.

Etymology

From Old English bealu ("evil, harm"), an older sense now mostly obsolete; the "bundle" sense comes from a separate, related Germanic word for a compressed package of goods.

Rhymes for bale

ale male sale pale gale tale kale vale dale Yale hale cale

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