pale
verb/peɪl/
/peɪl/
[intransitive]Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they pale | /peɪl/ /peɪl/ |
| he / she / it pales | /peɪlz/ /peɪlz/ |
| past simple paled | /peɪld/ /peɪld/ |
| past participle paled | /peɪld/ /peɪld/ |
| -ing form paling | /ˈpeɪlɪŋ/ /ˈpeɪlɪŋ/ |
- pale (at something) to become paler than usual
- She (= her face) paled visibly at the sight of the police car.
- The blue of the sky paled to a light grey.
Word Originverb Middle English: from Old French pale, from Latin pallidus; the verb is from Old French palir.Want to learn more?
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Idioms
See pale in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarypale beside/next to something | pale in/by comparison (with/to something) | pale into insignificance
- to seem less important when compared with something else
- Last year's riots pale in comparison with this latest outburst of violence.
- Our problems pale into insignificance when compared to theirs.
Check pronunciation:
pale