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.
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.
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.
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.
Pale , n. Paleness; pallor. [R.]
Shak.
Pale (?), a.
[Compar. Paler (?); superl.
Palest.]
[F. pâle, fr. pâlir
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.
&fist; Pale is often used in the formation of self- explaining compounds; as,
pale-colored, pale-eyed, pale-faced, pale-looking, etc.
Hear it pronounced