Definition of "gale" in English

verb

1. (intransitive, now chiefly dialectal) To cry; groan; croak.

2. (intransitive, of a person, now chiefly dialectal) To talk.

3. (transitive, now chiefly dialectal) To sing; utter with musical modulations.

noun

1. (meteorology) A very strong wind, more than a breeze, less than a storm; number 7 through to 9 winds on the 12-step Beaufort scale.

   • It's blowing a gale outside.
   • Many parts of the boat were damaged in the gale.
   • With my mother's permission and blessings, I set off exultantly for Bombay, leaving my wife with a baby of a few months. But on arrival there, friends told my brother that the Indian Ocean was rough in June and July, and as this was my first voyage, I should not be allowed to sail until November. Someone also reported that a steamer had just been sunk in a gale. This made my brother uneasy, and he refused to take the risk of allowing me to sail immediately.

2. An outburst, especially of laughter.

   • a gale of laughter

3. (literary, archaic) A light breeze.

verb

1. (nautical) To sail, or sail fast.

noun

1. A shrub, also called sweet gale or bog myrtle (Myrica gale), that grows on moors and fens.

noun

1. (archaic) A periodic payment, such as is made of a rent or annuity.

   • Gale day - the day on which rent or interest is due.

2. The personal mining plot of a freeminer.