Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

impale

Pronunciation: /ɪmˈpeɪl/

Translate impale | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of impale

verb

[with object]
  • 1transfix or pierce with a sharp instrument:his head was impaled on a pike and exhibited for all to see
  • 2 Heraldry display (a coat of arms) side by side with another on the same shield, separated by a vertical line: (as adjective impaled)the impaled arms of her husband and her father
  • (of a coat of arms) adjoin (another coat of arms) on the same shield: the arms of the order are impaling those of the sovereign

Derivatives

impalement

noun

impaler

noun

Origin:

mid 16th century (in the sense 'enclose with stakes or pales'): from French empaler or medieval Latin impalare, from Latin in- 'in' + palus 'a stake'

impale in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of impale in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

Word of the day

merrythought

/ /
noun
the wishbone of a bird …