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Glite Dictionary
whole gale

whole gale

9.1
A very strong wind blowing at about 100 kilometres an hour
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : viento fuerte
  • The weather report warned of a whole gale approaching, urging all boats to return to harbor immediately.

Examples

  • During the storm, we recorded wind speeds reaching a whole gale, making it impossible to venture outside.

  • The ship struggled to stay afloat in the rough seas, faced with the relentless force of a whole gale.

  • The model swayed and bucked like that old Tacoma Narrows flat film until it collapsed from the puny force of a whole gale.

    Fiction book (2002)

Synonyms

gale
vswhole gale
24 5.8

A very strong wind that can blow down trees

is limited to a specific high speed range at force ten

Antonyms

calm
735 1.0

Not showing strong feelings and being very still

light breeze
3 1.5

A gentle wind you feel on your face that moves leaves

How Windy

hurricane
301 2.2
storm
∞ 1.0
whole gale
  • Specialized
9.1
gale
24 5.8
wind
∞ 1.0
to breeze
1 1.0
calm
52 1.0

Surface Forms

whole gale singular
whole gales plural

Morphology

whole + gale

Because 'gale' already means a strong wind and 'whole' signals completeness/intensity, a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer that 'whole gale' means a very strong or full gale. However, the expression is a technical Beaufort-scale term (specifically force 10) and that precise numeric classification is not predictable from the constituents alone, so the transparency is only partial.

Etymology

The term whole gale may come from old sailors' speech where whole meant 'full' and gale meant a strong wind, so the phrase pictured the wind at its full force. That's why whole gale now means 'a very strong wind', about 60–70 miles per hour.