spale

/ˈspeɪl/

spale means A chip or splinter of wood.

spale is pronounced /ˈspeɪl/.

Etymology

From Middle English spale (“splinter”), perhaps partly from Old English *spalu (“flat bar, flake, chip”) or Old Norse spǫlr (“plank, rail, bar, short piece of wood”), both from Proto-Germanic *spaluz (“pole, rod, thin bar, lath”); and partly as an alteration of Old English speld (“ember, flake, torch, splinter, thin piece of wood used as a torch”), from Proto-Germanic *speldą (“that which is split, splinter, board”); both from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pala-, *(s)pel- (“to split in two, split in half”). Cognate with Middle High German spale ("rung of a ladder"; > dialectal German Spale (“a wooden split, wedge”)), dialectal Swedish spalu (“splinter”), dialectal Norwegian spel, spela, spila (“a splinter”), Icelandic spölur (“bit, short piece”). See also split.

noun

A chip or splinter of wood.
A lath; a shaving or chip, as of wood or stone.
A strengthening cross timber.
One of a number of crossbands fastened temporarily to the frames to keep them in place until properly secured.

Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).