2 entries under this word

Shale

Shāle, v. t.

verbtransitive

[See infra.] To take off the shell or coat of; to shell.

Life, in its upper grades, was bursting its shell, or was shaling off its husk. I. Taylor.

Shāle, n.

noun

[Ger. schale. See SHELL.]

  1. A shell or husk; a cod or pod. “The green shales of a bean.” Chapman.
  2. (Geol.) A fine-grained rock, having a slaty structure. Dana.