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Glite Dictionary
wide wale

wide wale

1 8.1
A thick fabric with wide raised lines
  • noun
  • /ˈwaɪd weɪl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : corduroy de canal ancho
  • Trousers of wide wale corduroy are often pleated and cuffed for a stylish look.
  • wide wale corduroy

Examples

  • The shirt is made of wide wale corduroy, giving it a unique texture.

  • Behind him, with her back turned, Masha was slipping into a sumptuous pair of olive wide-wale corduroys, the kind Corinne longed for but couldn't afford.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • She chose a wide wale fabric for her new pair of trousers because it adds texture and warmth.

Synonyms

corduroy
vswide wale
21 3.8

A thick cotton fabric with raised parallel ribs

is the specific type defined by having wider ribs rather than narrow ones

How Wide

wide wale
  • Specialized
1 8.1

Surface Forms

wide wale singular
wide wales plural

Morphology

wide + wale

The phrase is a straightforward adjective + noun description: 'wide' (broad) modifies 'wale' (textile ridge), so the meaning 'corduroy with wide ribs' is directly predictable from the constituents. Although 'wale' is a specialist textile term, if a learner knows that word, the compounded description follows normal composition patterns and is immediately comprehensible.

Etymology

Wide wale comes from the world of cloth: wale is the word for the raised 'ridges' on 'corduroy' and wide shows those ridges are large. So wide wale literally means corduroy with big rows of ridges, which explains the fabric's look and feel.