Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To pierce with a sharp stake or point.
- v. To torture or kill by impaling.
- v. To render helpless as if by impaling.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To fix upon a stake; drive or thrust a sharpened stake through: an ancient and Oriental mode of capital punishment.
- Hence Figuratively, to render helpless as if pierced through or impaled: as, to impale a person upon his own argument or upon the horns of a dilemma.
- To surround or inclose with or as with stakes, posts, or palisades.
- In heraldry, to display side by side on one shield, separated palewise each from the other, as when the arms of husband and wife are represented together.
- Hence — To place side by side as of similar importance and signification.
Wiktionary
- v. to pierce with a pale; to put to death by fixing on a sharp stake.
- v. more generally, to pierce (something) with any long, pointed object.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To pierce with a pale; to put to death by fixing on a sharp stake. See empale.
- v. To inclose, as with pales or stakes; to surround.
- v. (Her.) To join, as two coats of arms on one shield, palewise; hence, to join in honorable mention.
WordNet 3.0
- v. kill by piercing with a spear or sharp pole
- v. pierce with a sharp stake or point
Etymologies
- From Medieval Latin impālāre, from Latin palus. (Wiktionary)
- Medieval Latin impālāre : Latin in-, in; see in-2 + Latin pālus, stake; see pag- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Fleming, a three-time Grammy Award winner who specializes in opera and lieder, provided constructive criticism to the singers after each of their individual performances in the master class, which was organized by the Office for the Arts. The American artist challenged the four student performers-Bridget Haile '11, M.chael D. Cherella' 11, Francesca R.L. Reindel '11, and Sofia M. Selowsky' 12-to "get out of the comfort zone" and to "impale" audience members with their singing.”
“Inspired by the classic magic trick of sticking knives (and not killing anyone), it features wooden “swords” that “impale” the unit as supports or racks for your clothes.”
“Love that she was powerful enough to send Damon flying and impale him on a tree.”
“People passed between them holding umbrellas like lances, ready to impale body parts in their way, but she paid them no attention.”
“Take your umbrella to the bookfest and be prepared to impale anyone who stands in your way on a rusty metal spike.”
“It's not going to impale you on its tree of thorns, y'know”
“You cannot impale your main character through the heart and have him continue to frolic about.”
Terminator Offers Some Lessons for the Salvation of Your Novel
“Parmenion in particular must have yearned to impale this turncoat on a pole after losing so many of his men to the Persian in battle, but Alexander was more circumspect.”
“If we extend this fact back in time, we can imagine how cultured and intelligent this class was then, and impale ourselves on the conundrum of how it was so easily overridden by National Socialist barbarity.”
“Rytlock roared as he strode over his victims to impale another.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘impale’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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3/4 year Vocab List
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, awe, buffoon, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron and 96 more...
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3/4 year Vocab List
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, awe, buffoon, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron and 96 more...
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my fab list
blowsabella, aperçu, froideur, salubrious, abject, gallipot, mumchance, wainscot, virago, macerate, lascivious, clandestine and 181 more...
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fasten-ating
a reflection on the Indo-European root pag & pak to fasten
peace, pay, patio, fay, fang, impact, pax, newfangled, pagan, peasant, pectin, spinto and 58 more...
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the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
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(more or less) Temporary Urth List
Temporary list is temporary.
Collecting a few words here, which are then to be alloted to other lists.vassal, gnaw, putrescence, liege, pederasty, disseminate, loot, waning, fitful, hiatuse, plow, pious and 292 more...
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List of Heraldry Terms
Words and phrases used in blazoning heraldic devices, along with names and other terms associated with the art and science.
Other similar lists can be found on Wordnik, especially that...seiant, duciper, bourdon, pouch, scrip, staff, ananas, besant d'argent, roundle, roundel, argent, allocamelus and 743 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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Collage's Words
subtle, calamity, impale, qat, painterly, piebald, surly, nihilistic, repine, slake, larder, sepulchre and 349 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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GRE uncommon
patronage, expletive, exhort, exegesis, execrable, excommunicate, evince, escarpment, ersatz, ergo, epoxy, snare and 1202 more...
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GRE 3500 I
ignoble, ignominy, illicit, illimitable, imbibe, immaculate, impale, impalpable, impart, impasse, impassive, impeccable and 96 more...
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difficult-list24
immaculate, immolate, immure, immutable, impale, impassable, impasse, impassive, impeccable, impecunious, impede, impediment and 27 more...
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set 9
tryst, ruse, enrapture, epithet, chaffing, untenable, agape, obsequious, prattle, comestible, rueful, aquiline and 80 more...
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50 Word Psycho Thriller
survivor, jaded, defenestration, dodge, lunge, resurrection, sobbing, relief, tongue, lolling, pool cue, impale and 38 more...
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