See Also: Impale(medicine)
impale(dictionary)
impale(dictionary)

impale (iou)



impale verb trans. . M16.
[French empaler or medieval Latin impalare, formed as IM-1 + palus stake, PALE noun1.]
Enclose with pales, stakes, etc.; surround (as) with a palisade; fence in (lit. & fig.). Now rare. M16.
T. Hood So he might impale a strip of soil.
b. Military. Enclose or surround (troops) for defence. M16-M17.
Surround for adornment; encircle as with a crown or garland; border, edge. arch. M16.
Lytton All the laurels that ever with praise Impaled human brows.
Heraldry. Combine (two coats of arms, or one coat with another) by placing them side by side on one shield, separated by a vertical line down the middle. E17.
T. H. White It was charged with the impaled arms of her husband and of her father.
Transfix (a body etc. on or with a stake etc.), esp. (Hist.) as a form of torture or capital punishment. E17.
R. Graves He would hang or impale any man found guilty of rape. B. Cottle The cruel shrike..impales his little victims on thorns. fig.: P. Ackroyd Impaled upon his own lacerating self-consciousness he has fantasies of suicide.
impaler noun L17.
impaling noun (a) the action of the verb; (b) = IMPALEMENT 2:L16.