or WALES, in a ship, those outermost timbers in a ship's side, on which the sailors set their feet in climbing up. They are reckoned from the water, and are called her first, second, and third wale, or bend. WAR

WALE-KNOT, a round knot or knob made with three strands of a rope, so that it cannot slip, by which the tacks, topsail sheets, and stoppers are made fast, as also some other ropes.