Definition of "gale" []

• A very strong wind. (noun)
• Any of four winds with speeds of from 32 to 63 miles (51 to 102 kilometers) per hour, according to the Beaufort scale. (noun)
• A fresh gale. (noun)
• A forceful outburst: gales of laughter. (noun)
• Archaic A breeze. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Cimbri used the _Tamarix germanica_, the Scandinavians the fruit of the sweet gale (_Myrica gale_), the Cauchi the fruit and the twigs of the chaste tree (_Vitex agrius castus_), and the Icelanders the yarrow"
• "One by one, like a flight of swallows, our more meagrely sparred and canvassed yachts went by, leaving them wallowing and dead and shortening down in what they called a gale but which we called a dandy sailing breeze."
• "Bevirt said the system is designed to withstand strong winds, and in gale-force winds or periods of no wind at all the array would be programmed to land itself and take to the air again when the wind conditions are more suitable."