Pale

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive), Verb (intransitive), Adjective

CIDE DICTIONARY

Pale, a. [F. pâle, fr. pâlir to turn pale, L. pallere to be or look pale. Cf. Appall, Fallow, pall, v. i., Pallid.].

•  Wanting in color; not ruddy; dusky white; pallid; wan; as, a pale face; a pale red; a pale blue.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]

  "Speechless he stood and pale."  [1913 Webster]

  "They are not of complexion red or pale."  [1913 Webster]
•  Not bright or brilliant; of a faint luster or hue; dim; as, the pale light of the moon.  [1913 Webster]

  " Pale is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, pale-colored, pale-eyed, pale-faced, pale-looking, etc."  [1913 Webster]

  "The night, methinks, is but the daylight sick;
  It looks a little paler."  [1913 Webster]

Pale, n. 

 Paleness; pallor.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

Pale, v. i. 

 To turn pale; to lose color or luster.  Whittier.  [1913 Webster]
"Apt to pale at a trodden worm."  [1913 Webster]

Pale, v. t. 

 To make pale; to diminish the brightness of.  [1913 Webster]
"The glowworm shows the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire."  [1913 Webster]

Pale, n. [F. pal, fr. L. palus: cf. D. paal. See Pole a stake, and 1st Pallet.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "Deer creep through when a pale tumbles down."  [1913 Webster]
•  That which incloses or fences in; a boundary; a limit; a fence; a palisade.  Robynson (More's Utopia).  [1913 Webster]
•  A space or field having bounds or limits; a limited region or place; an inclosure; -- often used figuratively.  Macaulay.  [1913 Webster]
•  A region within specified bounds, whether or not enclosed or demarcated.  [PJC]
•  A stripe or band, as on a garment.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  A cheese scoop.  Simmonds.  [1913 Webster]
•  A shore for bracing a timber before it is fastened.  [1913 Webster]

  " The English Pale. That part of Ireland in which English law was acknowledged, and within which the dominion of the English was restricted, for some centuries after the conquests of Henry II. John distributed the part of Ireland then subject to England into 12 counties palatine, and this region became subsequently known as the Pale, but the limits varied at different times."  [Century Dict., 1906]

English pale, Irish pale (Hist.), the limits or territory in Eastern Ireland within which alone the English conquerors of Ireland held dominion for a long period after their invasion of the country by Henry II in 1172. See note, below. -- beyond the pale outside the limits of what is allowed or proper; also, outside the limits within which one is protected. Spencer.

Pale, v. t. 

 To inclose with pales, or as with pales; to encircle; to encompass; to fence off.  [1913 Webster]
"[Your isle, which stands] ribbed and paled in
With rocks unscalable and roaring waters."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Pale, adj. & v.
--adj.
1 (of a person or complexion) of a whitish or ashen appearance.
2 a (of a colour) faint; not dark or deep. b faintly coloured.
3 of faint lustre; dim.
--v.
1 intr. & tr. grow or make pale.
2 intr. (often foll. by before, beside) become feeble in comparison (with).

Derivative

palely adv. paleness n. palish adj.

Pale, n.
1 a pointed piece of wood for fencing etc.; a stake.
2 a boundary or enclosed area.
3 Heraldry a vertical stripe in the middle of a shield.

Idiom

beyond the pale outside the bounds of acceptable behaviour. in pale Heraldry arranged vertically.

Etymology

ME f. OF pal f. L palus stake

THESAURUS

Pale

abate, abnormal, achievement, achromatic, achromatize, achromic, alabaster, alabastrine, albescent, alerion, ambit, anathema, anemic, animal charge, annulet, arena, argent, arid, armorial bearings, armory, arms, ashen, ashy, azure, bailiwick, bandeau, bar, bar sinister, barren, baton, bearings, beat, bend, bend sinister, billet, bizarre, blah, blanch, blanched, blank, blazon, blazonry, bleach, bleach out, blear, bleared, bleary, bled white, blench, block, bloodless, blue, blur, blurred, blurry, blush, border, borderland, borders, bordure, boundaries, boundary, bounds, bourns, broad arrow, bulkhead in, cachectic, cadaverous, cadency mark, canton, change color, chaplet, characterless, charge, chevron, chief, chloranemic, cincture, circle, circuit, circumference, circumscription, clos, close, coat of arms, cockatrice, cold, color, colorless, compass, confine, confines, confused, container, coop, coordinates, coronet, corpselike, court, courtyard, cream, creamy, crescent, crest, crimson, croft, cross, cross moline, crown, curtilage, dark, darken, dead, deadly, deadly pale, deathlike, deathly, deathly pale, debilitated, decolor, decolorize, decrease, defocus, delicate, delimited field, demesne, department, device, difference, differencing, dim, diminish, dimmed, dingy, discolor, discolored, dismal, domain, dominion, doughy, draggy, drain, drain of color, drained, drearisome, dreary, dry, dryasdust, dull, dun-white, dusty, eagle, edges, eerie, effete, eggshell, elephantine, empty, enclave, enclosure, enervated, enfeebled, ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois, escutcheon, etiolate, etiolated, exhausted, exsanguinated, exsanguine, exsanguineous, fade, fade away, fade out, faded, failing, faint, fair, falcon, fallow, feeble, fence, fess, fess point, field, file, film, filmy, flanch, flat, fleur-de-lis, flimsy, flush, fog, foggy, fold, forbidden, forty, frail, freeze, fret, fringes, fume, funk, fur, fusil, fuzzy, garland, ghastly, ghostlike, ghostly, glaucescent, glaucous, gloss, glow, gray, gray-white, griffin, grisly, ground, grow pale, gruesome, gules, gyron, haggard, half-baked, half-seen, half-visible, hatchment, hazy, healthless, heavy, hedge, helmet, hem, hemisphere, heraldic device, ho-hum, hollow, honor point, hueless, hypochromic, ill-defined, impalement, impaling, improper, in poor health, inadequate, inadmissible, inane, inconspicuous, indecent, indefinite, indistinct, indistinguishable, ineffective, ineffectual, inescutcheon, inexcitable, infirm, insignificant, insipid, insubstantial, interdicted, invalid, iridescent, irregular, ivory, ivory-white, jejune, judicial circuit, jurisdiction, kraal, label, lackluster, lame, languishing, leaden, leg, lessen, lifeless, light, limitations, limits, lint-white, lion, list, livid, look black, lose color, lose courage, lose resolution, lot, low-profile, low-spirited, lozenge, lurid, lusterless, macabre, mantle, mantling, march, marches, marshaling, martlet, mascle, mat, mealy, mellow, merely glimpsed, metal, metes, metes and bounds, mist, misty, moribund, mortuary, mother-of-pearl, motto, muddy, mullet, nacreous, neutral, nombril point, obscure, octofoil, off-white, opalescent, or, orb, orbit, ordinary, orle, out of focus, outlines, outre, outskirts, pale as death, pale-faced, paling, palisade, pallid, paltry, paly, parameters, parcel of land, park, pastel, pasty, patch, patinaed, peaked, peaky, pean, pearl, pearly, pearly-white, peculiar, pedestrian, peg, pen, perimeter, periphery, peroxide, pheon, picket, pile, plat, plodding, plot, plot of ground, pointless, poky, ponderous, poor, post, precinct, prohibited, province, puny, purpure, quad, quadrangle, quarter, quartering, quiet, rail, real estate, realm, redden, reduced, reduced in health, restriction, rose, round, run-down, sable, sad, sallow, saltire, scutcheon, section, semigloss, semivisible, shadowy, shank, shield, sick, sickly, simple, skirts, slow, sober, soft, soft-colored, soft-hued, soften, softened, solemn, somber, sphere, spile, spiritless, spread eagle, square, stake, sterile, stiff, stodgy, strange, stuffy, subdued, subordinary, subtle, superficial, sweet, take alarm, take fright, tallow-faced, tame, tarnish, tasteless, tedious, tender, tenne, theater, tincture, toft, tone down, toneless, torse, tract, tressure, turn color, turn pale, turn red, turn white, unacceptable, uncanny, uncertain, unclear, uncolored, undefined, unearthly, unhealthy, unicorn, uninspired, unlively, unplain, unrecognizable, unseemly, unsound, unsubstantial, unsuitable, unusual, upright, vague, vair, valetudinarian, valetudinary, vapid, verboten, verges, vert, walk, wall, wan, wash out, washed out, washed-out, waterish, watery, waxen, weak, weakened, weakly, weird, whey-faced, white, whiten, whitened, whitish, whity, wishy-washy, with low resistance, wooden, wreath, yale, yard

ROGET THESAURUS

Pale

Region

N region, sphere, ground, soil, area, field, realm, hemisphere, quarter, district, beat, orb, circuit, circle, reservation, pale, compartment, department, clearing, (property) &c 780 (Government), 1 arena, precincts, enceinte, walk, march, patch, plot, parcel, inclosure, close, field, court, enclave, reserve, preserve, street, clime, climate, zone, meridian, latitude, biosphere, lithosphere, territorial, local, parochial, provincial, regional.

Fear

N fear, timidity, diffidence, want of confidence, apprehensiveness, fearfulness, solicitude, anxiety, care, apprehension, misgiving, feeze, mistrust, suspicion, qualm, hesitation, nervousness, restlessness, inquietude, disquietude, worry, concern, batophobia, heartquake, flutter, trepidation, fear and trembling, perturbation, tremor, quivering, shaking, trembling, throbbing heart, palpitation, ague fit, cold sweat, abject fear, mortal funk, heartsinking, despondency, despair, fright, affright, affrightment, boof alarm, dread, awe, terror, horror, dismay, consternation, panic, scare, stampede (of horses), intimidation, terrorism, reign of terror, bug bear, bugaboo, scarecrow, hobgoblin, nightmare, Gorgon, mormo, ogre, Hurlothrumbo, raw head and bloody bones, fee-faw-fum, bete noire, enfant terrible, alarmist, fearing, frightened, in fear, in a fright, haunted with the fear of, afeard, afraid, fearful, timid, timorous, nervous, diffident, coy, faint- hearted, tremulous, shaky, afraid of one's shadow, apprehensive, restless, fidgety, more frightened than hurt, aghast, awe-stricken, horror-stricken, terror-stricken, panic- stricken, awestruck, awe-stricken, horror-struck, frightened to death, white as a sheet, pale, pale as a ghost, pale as death, pale as ashes, breathless, in hysterics, inspiring fear, alarming, formidable, redoubtable, perilous, portentous, fearful, dread, dreadful, fell, dire, direful, shocking, terrible, terrific, tremendous, horrid, horrible, horrific, ghastly, awful, awe-inspiring, revolting, Gorgonian, in terrorem, Int, angels and ministers of grace defend us!, ante tubam trepidat, horresco referens, one's heart failing one, obstupui steteruntque comae et vox faucibus haesit, a dagger of the mind, expertus metuit, fain would I climb but that I fear to fall, fear is the parent of cruelty, Gorgons and hydras and chimeras dire, omnia tuta timens, our fears do make us traitors.

Inclosure

N inclosure, envelope, case, wrapper, girdle, pen, fold, pen fold, in fold, sheep fold, paddock, pound, corral, yard, net, seine net, wall, hedge, hedge row, espalier, fence, pale, paling, balustrade, rail, railing, quickset hedge, park paling, circumvallation, enceinte, ring fence, barrier, barricade, gate, gateway, bent, dingle, door, hatch, cordon, prison, dike, dyke, ditch, fosse, moat.

Limit

N limit, boundary, bounds, confine, enclave, term, bourn, verge, curbstone, but, pale, reservation, termination, terminus, stint, frontier, precinct, marches, backwoods, boundary line, landmark, line of demarcation, line of circumvallation, pillars of Hercules, Rubicon, turning point, ne plus ultra, sluice, floodgate, definite, conterminate, conterminable, terminal, frontier, bordering, thus far, thus far and no further, stick to the reservation, go beyond the pale, Special.

Dimness

VB be dim, grow dim, flicker, twinkle, glimmer, loom, lower, fade, pale, pale its ineffectual fire, render dim, dim, bedim, obscure, darken, tone down.

N dimness, darkness, paleness, half light, demi-jour, partial shadow, partial eclipse, shadow of a shade, glimmer, gliming, nebulosity, cloud, eclipse, aurora, dusk, twilight, shades of evening, crepuscule, cockshut time, break of day, daybreak, dawn, moonlight, moonbeam, moonglade, moonshine, starlight, owl's light, candlelight, rushlight, firelight, farthing candle, dim, dull, lackluster, dingy, darkish, shorn of its beams, dark, faint, shadowed forth, glassy, cloudy, misty, blear, muggy, fuliginous, nebulous, nebular, obnubilated, overcast, crepuscular, muddy, lurid, leaden, dun, dirty, looming, pale, confused.

Achromatism

VB lose color, fade, fly, go, become colorless, turn pale, pale, deprive of color, decolorize, bleach, tarnish, achromatize, blanch, etiolate, wash out, tone down.

N achromatism, decoloration, discoloration, pallor, pallidness, pallidity, paleness, etiolation, neutral tint, monochrome, black and white, uncolored &c (color), colorless, achromatic, aplanatic, etiolate, etiolated, hueless, pale, pallid, palefaced, tallow-faced, faint, dull, cold, muddy, leaden, dun, wan, sallow, dead, dingy, ashy, ashen, ghastly, cadaverous, glassy, lackluster, discolored, light-colored, fair, blond, white, pale as death, pale as ashes, pale as a witch, pale as a ghost, pale as a corpse, white as a corpse.