gale

noun

ˈgāl

: a strong current of air:

(1)

: a wind from 32 to 63 miles per hour (about 51 to 102 kilometers per hour)

(2)

: fresh gale see Beaufort Scale Table

archaic : breeze

: an emotional outburst

gales of laughter

Example Sentences

The boat was damaged in a strong gale. The winds approached gale force. The audience erupted in gales of laughter.

Recent Examples on the Web As the gale and rain hit, Wang Jinmin, a runner from Chongqing, spent a few minutes opening up his emergency blanket.

Phred Dvorak, WSJ, 24 May 2021 Citing data from the National Hurricane Center, the Orlando Sentinel said Hurricane Nicole has already battered the Bahamas with gale-force winds up to 70 mph.

Justin Klawans, The Week, 9 Nov. 2022 Maybe not the gale-force winds that nearly did Northwestern a favor and toppled its outgoing stadium a year ahead of schedule.

Nathan Baird, cleveland, 7 Nov. 2022 Regardless of development, there is an increasing risk of coastal flooding, gale-force winds, heavy rainfall, rough surf, and beach erosion.

Elainie Barraza, Orlando Sentinel, 6 Nov. 2022 Caught in a northwest gale, not only did the towline snap, but so did Atlanta's sails, which left it at the mercy of the storm.

Maxime Tamsett, CNN, 4 Mar. 2022 Its home port was Port Huron, and it was bound with a load of coal in tow of the steamer Wilhelm when both vessels got caught in a northwest gale.

Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 3 Mar. 2022 Archer Daniels insists that the building — which lost a swath of its brick cladding in a December gale — is an imminent danger to public safety and applied for an emergency permit to raze it.

New York Times, 22 Jan. 2022 But those breathless analyst projections on how high the service will go have already been sheeted back like a Clipper ship’s sails in a gale.

David Bloom, Forbes, 12 Nov. 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gale.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.