gale

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A very strong wind.
2. n. Any of four winds with speeds of from 32 to 63 miles (51 to 102 kilometers) per hour, according to the Beaufort scale.
3. n. A fresh gale.
4. n. A forceful outburst: gales of laughter.
5. n. Archaic A breeze.
6. n. The sweet gale.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To sing.
2. To cry; groan; croak.
3. Of a person, to “croak”; talk.
4. To sing; utter with musical modulations.
5. n. A song.
6. n. Speech; discourse.
7. n. A strong natural current of air; a wind; a breeze; more specifically, in nautical use, a wind between a stiff breeze and a storm or tempest: generally with some qualifying epithet: as, a gentle, moderate, brisk, fresh, stiff, strong, or hard gale.
8. n. Figuratively, a state of noisy excitement, as of hilarity or of passion.
9. n. By extension, an odor-laden current of air.
10. n. The Myrica Gale, a shrub growing in marshy places in northern Europe and Asia and in North America: more usually called sweet-gale, from its pleasant aromatic odor.
11. n. A periodical payment of rent, interest, duty, or custom; an instalment of money.
12. n. The right of a free miner to have possession of a plot of land within the Forest of Dean and hundred of St. Briavels, in England, and to work the coal and iron thereunder.
13. To ache or tingle with cold, as the fingers.
14. To crack with heat or dryness, as wood.
15. A copper coin.
16. n. Gales are classified as moderate, fresh, strong, and whole gales. See Beaufort scale.
17. To sail away before the wind, or to outstrip another vessel in sailing: generally with away.

Wiktionary

1. v. intransitive To sing; charm; enchant.
2. v. intransitive To cry; groan; croak.
3. v. intransitive, of a person To talk.
4. v. intransitive, of a bird, Scotland To call.
5. v. transitive To sing; utter with musical modulations.
6. n. meteorology A very strong wind, more than a breeze, less than a storm; number 7 through 9 winds on the 12-step Beaufort scale.
7. n. An outburst, especially of laughter.
8. n. archaic A light breeze.
9. n. A shrub, sweet gale (Myrica gale) growing on moors and fens.
10. n. archaic A periodic payment, such as is made of a rent or annuity.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A strong current of air; a wind between a stiff breeze and a hurricane. The most violent gales are called tempests.
2. n. A moderate current of air; a breeze.
3. n. A state of excitement, passion, or hilarity.
4. v. (Naut.) To sale, or sail fast.
5. n. obsolete A song or story.
6. v. obsolete To sing.
7. n. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Myrica, growing in wet places, and strongly resembling the bayberry. The sweet gale (Myrica Gale) is found both in Europe and in America.
8. n. engraving The payment of a rent or annuity.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a strong wind moving 45-90 knots; force 7 to 10 on Beaufort scale