wale1

[weyl] /weɪl/
noun
1.
a streak, stripe, or ridge produced on the skin by the stroke of a rod or whip; welt.
2.
the vertical rib in knit goods or a chain of loops running lengthwise in knit fabric (opposed to course).
3.
the texture or weave of a fabric.
4.
Nautical.
  1. any of certain strakes of thick outside planking on the sides of a wooden ship.
  2. gunwale.
5.
Also called breast timber, ranger, waling. Engineering, Building Trades. a horizontal timber or other support for reinforcing various upright members, as sheet piling or concrete form boards, or for retaining earth at the edge of an excavation.
6.
a ridge on the outside of a horse collar.
verb (used with object), waled, waling.
7.
to mark with wales.
8.
to weave with wales.
9.
Engineering, Building Trades. to reinforce or fasten with a wale or wales.
Origin
before 1050; (noun) Middle English; Old English walu ridge, rib, wheal; cognate with Old Norse vǫlr, Gothic walus rod, wand; (v.) late Middle English, derivative of the noun

wale2

[weyl] /weɪl/
noun
1.
something that is selected as the best; choice.
verb (used with object), waled, waling.
2.
to choose; select.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English wal(e) < Old Norse val choice, velja to choose
Examples from the web for wale
  • By contrast, in warp knitting, one yarn is required for every wale.
  • The width of the cord is commonly referred to as the size of the wale.
British Dictionary definitions for wale

wale1

/weɪl/
noun
1.
the raised mark left on the skin after the stroke of a rod or whip
2.
  1. the weave or texture of a fabric, such as the ribs in corduroy
  2. a vertical row of stitches in knitting Compare course (sense 14)
3.
(nautical)
  1. a ridge of planking along the rail of a ship
  2. See gunwale
verb (transitive)
4.
to raise a wale or wales on by striking
5.
to weave with a wale
Word Origin
Old English waluweal1; related to Old Norse vala knuckle, Dutch wäle

wale2

/weɪl/
noun
1.
a choice
2.
anything chosen as the best
adjective
3.
choice
verb
4.
(transitive) to choose
Word Origin
C14: from Old Norse val choice, related to German Wahl
Word Origin and History for wale
n.

Old English walu "ridge," as of earth or stone, later "ridge made on flesh by a lash" (related to weal (n.2)); from Proto-Germanic *walo (cf. Low German wale "weal," Old Frisian walu "rod," Old Norse völr "round piece of wood," Gothic walus "a staff, stick," Dutch wortel, German wurzel "root"). The common notion perhaps is "raised line." Used in reference to the ridges of textile fabric from 1580s. Wales "horizontal planks which extend along a ship's sides" is attested from late 13c.

wale in Medicine

wale (wāl)
n.
A mark raised on the skin, as by a whip; a weal or welt. v. waled, wal·ing, wales
To raise marks on the skin, as by whipping.