What is "gale"

Gale \Gale\, v. i. (Naut.) To sale, or sail fast.

Gale \Gale\, n. [OE. gal. See Gale wind.] A song or story. [Obs.]
--Toone.

Gale \Gale\, v. i. [AS. galan. See 1st Gale.] To sing. [Obs.] ``Can he cry and gale.''
--Court of Love.

Gale \Gale\, n. [AS. gagel, akin to D. gagel.] (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.

Gale \Gale\, n. [Cf. Gabel.] The payment of a rent or annuity. [Eng.]
--Mozley & W.

Gale day, the day on which rent or interest is due.

Gale \Gale\ (g[=a]l), n. [Prob. of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. gal furious, Icel. galinn, cf. Icel. gala to sing, AS. galan to sing, Icel. galdr song, witchcraft, AS. galdor charm, sorcery, E. nightingale; also, Icel. gj[=o]la gust of wind, gola breeze. Cf. Yell.]

1. A strong current of air; a wind between a stiff breeze and a hurricane. The most violent gales are called tempests.

   Note: Gales have a velocity of from about eighteen (``moderate'') to about eighty (``very heavy'') miles an our.
   --Sir. W. S. Harris.

2. A moderate current of air; a breeze.

   A little gale will soon disperse that cloud.
   --Shak.

   And winds of gentlest gale Arabian odors fanned From their soft wings.
   --Milton.

3. A state of excitement, passion, or hilarity.

   The ladies, laughing heartily, were fast getting into what, in New England, is sometimes called a gale.
   --Brooke (Eastford).

   Topgallant gale (Naut.), one in which a ship may carry her topgallant sails.

"strong wind," especially at sea, 1540s, from gaile "wind," origin uncertain. Perhaps from Old Norse gol "breeze," or Old Danish gal "bad, furious" (often used of weather), which are related to Old Norse galinn "furious, mad, frantic; enchanted, bewitched," from gala "to sing, chant," the wind so called from its raging or on the notion of being raised by spells (but OED finds reason to doubt this). Or perhaps it is named for the sound, from Old English galan "to sing," or giellan "to yell." The Old Norse and Old English words all are from the source of yell (v.). In nautical use, between a stiff breeze and a storm; in technical meteorological use, a wind between 32 and 63 miles per hour.

Etymology 1 vb. 1 (context intransitive now chiefly dialectal English) To sing; charm; enchant. 2 (context intransitive now chiefly dialectal English) To cry; groan; croak. 3 (context intransitive of a person now chiefly dialectal English) To talk. 4 (context intransitive of a bird Scotland English) To call. 5 (context transitive now chiefly dialectal English) To sing; utter with musical modulations. Etymology 2

n. 1 (context meteorology English) A very strong wind, more than a breeze, less than a storm; number 7 through 9 winds on the 12-step Beaufort scale. 2 An outburst, especially of laughter. 3 (context archaic English) A light breeze. 4 (context obsolete English) A song or story. vb. (context nautical English) To sail, or sail fast. Etymology 3

n. A shrub, also sweet gale or bog myrtle (''Myrica gale'') growing on moors and fens. Etymology 4

n. (context archaic English) A periodic payment, such as is made of a rent or annuity.

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

A gale is a very strong wind.

Gale may also refer to:

Gale is a British-based loudspeaker, studio monitor, speaker stands and speaker wire manufacturer which distributes internationally. It started producing loudspeakers in 1972. Gale loudspeakers have won several hi-fi awards.

A gale is a very strong wind. There are conflicting definitions of how strong a wind must be to be considered a gale. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots (, or ) of sustained surface winds. Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are expected.

Other sources use minima as low as 28 knots (, ) and maxima as high as 90 knots (, ). Through 1986, the National Hurricane Center used the term gale to refer to winds of tropical force for coastal areas, between 33 knots (, ) and 63 knots (, ). The definition is very non-standard. A common alternative definition of the maximum is 55 knots (, ).

The most common way of measuring winds is with the Beaufort scale, which defines a gale as wind from 50 to 102 km/h. It is an empirical measure for describing wind speed based mainly on observed sea conditions. Its full name is the Beaufort Wind Force Scale.

On the Beaufort Wind Scale, a gale is classified as: 7: Moderate Gale (32–38 miles per hour), 8: Fresh Gale (39-46 mph), 9: Strong Gale (47-54 mph) and 10: Storm/Whole Gale (55-63 mph). A gale is a type of Wind Description preceded by 0: Calm, 1: Light Air, 2: Light Breeze, 3: Gentle Breeze, 4: Moderate Breeze, 5: Fresh Breeze, 6: Strong Breeze and succeeded by 11: Violent Storm and 12: Hurricane on a Beaufort Wind Scale. There is a unique Beaufort Scale number and a unique Arrow Indication for each type of Wind Description mentioned above.

The word gale is derived from the older gail, but its origin is uncertain.

Gale is an educational publishing company based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, the United States, in the western suburbs of Detroit. It was part of the Thomson Learning division of the Thomson Corporation, a Canadian company, but became part of Cengage Learning in 2007.

The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale Group, is active in research and educational publishing for public and academic libraries, schools and businesses. The company may be best known for its full-text magazine and newspaper database, InfoTrac, and other online databases accessible from schools and libraries, as well as multi-volume reference works, especially in the areas of religion, history and social science.

Founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1954 by Frederick Gale Ruffner, it was acquired by Thomson in 1985.

Gale is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Andrew Gale (born 1983), British cricketer
• Anthony Gale (died 1843), fourth commandant of the United States Marine Corps
• Bob Gale (born 1951), motion picture screenwriter
• Bob Gale (cricketer) (born 1933), English cricketer
• Brendon Gale (born 1968), Australian rules footballer
• Colin Gale (1932–2008), Welsh footballer
• Daniel De Gale (1987–2008), leukemia patient
• David Gale (1921–2008), mathematician
• David Gale (actor) (1936–1991), British actor
• Eddie Gale (born 1941), American trumpeter
• Eddra Gale (1921–2001), American actress and singer
• Eric Gale (1938–1994), American jazz and session guitarist
• Ernest Gale (1914–2005), British microbiologist
• Fay Gale (1932-2008), Australian cultural geographer and professor
• George Gale (disambiguation)
• Grant O. Gale (1903–1998), physics professor
• Hannah Gale (1876–1970), Canadian politician
• Henry Gale (astrophysicist) (1874–1942), American astrophysicist and author
• Henry Gale (British Army officer) (1883–1944), British Army officer
• Humfrey Gale (1890–1971), British Army lieutenant general
• Iain Gale (born 1959), British author
• Jennifer Gale (1960–2008), American transgender perennial political candidate in Texas
• John Gale (disambiguation)
• Joseph Gale (1807–1881), American pioneer
• Joseph H. Gale (born 1953), American judge
• Kate Gale (born 1965), American poet, librettist, and independent publisher
• Lauren Gale (1917–1996), American basketball player
• Levin Gale (1784–1834), American politician
• Lorena Gale (1958–2009), Canadian actress
• Mariah Gale (born 1980), British-Australian actress
• Maura Gale, American voice actress
• Megan Gale (born 1975), Australian model
• Melvyn Gale (born 1952), cellist for the Electric Light Orchestra
• Michael Gale (born 1966), former Australian rules football player
• Michael Gale (businessperson) (born 1962), Australian-American businessperson, son of Fay Gale
• Michael Denis Gale (1943-2009), British plant geneticist
• Mitchell Gale (born 1990), American football player
• Nathan Gale (1979–2004), murderer
• Norman Gale (1862–1942), poet
• Parnell Gale (died 1818), Mayor of Galway in 1817
• Patrick Gale (born 1962), British author
• Philip Gale, computer prodigy
• Richard Gale (disambiguation)
• Robert Gale (disambiguation)
• Roger Gale (born 1943), English politician
• Shaun Gale (born 1969), English former footballer
• Terry Gale (born 1946), Australian golfer
• Theophilus Gale (1628–1678), English theologian
• Thomas Gale (c. 1630–1702), English classical scholar
• Tony Gale (born 1959), English football player and coach
• Tristan Gale (born 1980), American athlete
• Walter Frederick Gale (1865–1945), Australian banker and astronomer
• William Gale (disambiguation)
• Zona Gale (1874–1938), American writer

Gale is a crater on Mars near the northwestern part of the Aeolis quadrangle at . It is in diameter and estimated to be about 3.5-3.8 billion years old. The crater was named after Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur astronomer from Sydney, Australia, who observed Mars in the late 19th century. Aeolis Mons is a mountain in the center of Gale and rises high. Aeolis Palus is the plain between the northern wall of Gale and the northern foothills of Aeolis Mons. Peace Vallis, a nearby outflow channel, 'flows' down from the Gale crater hills to the Aeolis Palus below and seems to have been carved by flowing water.

The NASA Mars rover, Curiosity, of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, landed in "Yellowknife" Quad 51 of Aeolis Palus in Gale at 05:32 UTC August 6, 2012. NASA named the landing location Bradbury Landing on August 22, 2012. Curiosity is expected to explore Aeolis Mons and surrounding areas.

Gale is a given name. It has seen masculine and feminine use consecutively in the United States. Gale as a man's name is from an English surname, ultimately from Middle English gaile "jovial". As a woman's name, it is a short form of the biblical name Abigail.

It was almost exclusively a masculine name before 1935; in the later 1930s, it became a popular variant of the feminine name Abigail. Feminine usage surpassed masculine usage in 1940, leading to a further decline in masculine usage, and Gale was predominantly a feminine name when it peaked in popularity in the later 1950s. Its popularity decreased rapidly in the 1960s, falling below rank 1,000 in 1971. In the 1990 census, it was ranked 4,209.