paled

pale1

pale ¹

 (pāl)

n.

1. A stake or pointed stick; a picket.

2. A fence enclosing an area.

3. The area enclosed by a fence or boundary.

4.

a. A region or district lying within an imposed boundary or constituting a separate jurisdiction.

b. Pale The medieval dominions of the English in Ireland. Used with the.

5. Heraldry A wide vertical band in the center of an escutcheon.

tr.v. paled, pal·ing, pales

To enclose with pales; fence in.

Idiom:

beyond the pale

Irrevocably unacceptable or unreasonable: behavior that was quite beyond the pale.

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[Middle English, from Old French pal, from Latin pālus; see pag- in Indo-European roots.]

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pale ²

 (pāl)

adj. pal·er, pal·est

1. Whitish in complexion; pallid.

2.

a. Of a low intensity of color; light.

b. Having high lightness and low saturation.

3. Of a low intensity of light; dim or faint: "a late afternoon sun coming through the el tracks and falling in pale oblongs on the cracked, empty sidewalks" (Jimmy Breslin).

4. Feeble; weak: a pale rendition of the aria.

v. paled, pal·ing, pales

v.tr.

To cause to turn pale.

v.intr.

1. To become pale; blanch: paled with fright.

2. To decrease in relative importance.

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[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pallidus, from pallēre, to be pale; see pel- in Indo-European roots.]

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pale′ly adv.

pale′ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.