Hypertext Webster Gateway: "pale"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Pale \Pale\, v. t.
To inclose with pales, or as with pales; to encircle; to
encompass; to fence off.

[Your isle, which stands] ribbed and paled in With
rocks unscalable and roaring waters. --Shak.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Pale \Pale\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Paled}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Paling}.]
To turn pale; to lose color or luster. --Whittier.

Apt to pale at a trodden worm. --Mrs.
Browning.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Pale \Pale\, v. t.
To make pale; to diminish the brightness of.

The glow?worm shows the matin to be near, And gins to
pale his uneffectual fire. --Shak.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Pale \Pale\, n. [F. pal, fr. L. palus: cf. D. paal. See {Pol?} a
stake, and lst {Pallet}.]
1. A pointed stake or slat, either driven into the ground, or
fastened to a rail at the top and bottom, for fencing or
inclosing; a picket.

Deer creep through when a pale tumbles down.
--Mortimer.

2. That which incloses or fences in; a boundary; a limit; a
fence; a palisade. ``Within one pale or hedge.''
--Robynson (More's Utopia).

3. A space or field having bounds or limits; a limited region
or place; an inclosure; -- often used figuratively. ``To
walk the studious cloister's pale.'' --Milton. ``Out of
the pale of civilization.'' --Macaulay.

4. A stripe or band, as on a garment. --Chaucer.

5. (Her.) One of the greater ordinaries, being a broad
perpendicular stripe in an escutcheon, equally distant
from the two edges, and occupying one third of it.

6. A cheese scoop. --Simmonds.

7. (Shipbuilding) A shore for bracing a timber before it is
fastened.

{English pale} (Hist.), the limits or territory within which
alone the English conquerors of Ireland held dominion for
a long period after their invasion of the country in 1172.
--Spencer.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Pale \Pale\, a. [Compar. {Paler}; superl. {Palest}.] [F.
p[^a]le, fr. p[^a]lir to turn pale, L. pallere to be o? look
pale. Cf. {Appall}, {Fallow}, {pall}, v. i., {Pallid}.]
1. Wanting in color; not ruddy; dusky white; pallid; wan; as,
a pale face; a pale red; a pale blue. ``Pale as a forpined
ghost.'' --Chaucer.

Speechless he stood and pale. --Milton.

They are not of complexion red or pale. --T.
Randolph.

2. Not bright or brilliant; of a faint luster or hue; dim;
as, the pale light of the moon.

The night, methinks, is but the daylight sick; It
looks a little paler. --Shak.

Note: Pale is often used in the formation of self-explaining
compounds; as, pale-colored, pale-eyed, pale-faced,
pale-looking, etc.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Pale \Pale\, n.
Paleness; pallor. [R.] --Shak.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

pale
adj 1: very light colored; highly diluted with white; "pale
seagreen"; "pale blue eyes"
2: (of light) lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or
feeble; "the pale light of a half moon"; "a pale sun";
"the late afternoon light coming through the el tracks
fell in pale oblongs on the street"; "a pallid sky"; "the
pale (or wan) stars"; "the wan light of dawn" [syn: {pallid},
{wan}]
3: lacking in vitality or interest or effectiveness; "a pale
rendition of the aria"; "pale prose with the faint
sweetness of lavender"; "a pallid performance" [syn: {pallid}]
4: abnormally deficient in color as suggesting physical or
emotional distress; "the pallid face of the invalid"; "her
wan face suddenly flushed" [syn: {pallid}, {wan}]
5: not full or rich; "high, pale, pure and lovely song"
n : a wooden strip forming part of a fence [syn: {picket}]
v : turn pale, as if in fear [syn: {blanch}, {blench}]


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