dale

dale — noun

1. a stretch of low land lying between hills or mountains, often with a stream or r

1.nounB2
Definition

a stretch of low land lying between hills or mountains, often with a stream or river flowing through it.

Example

Asher followed the footpath into the dale, where a narrow stream ran between the hills.

preposition: into the dale

The village of Norbury sits in a peaceful dale surrounded by green farmland.

Common collocations
  • deep dale
  • green dale
  • wooded dale
  • narrow dale
  • the dale below
  • into the dale
  • across the dale
Synonyms
  • valley

    the standard, neutral word for this landform; 'dale' is far less common

  • vale

    poetic or literary, similar register but even rarer than 'dale'

  • glen

    Scottish English for a narrow, often steep-sided valley

Antonyms
  • hill

    the elevated land that rises above a dale on either side

  • ridge

    the top edge of the hills that frame a dale

Grammar Patterns

a + dale

the + dale

Usage Note

More common in literary or place-name contexts than in everyday speech; in ordinary conversation, valley is the usual word.

Common Mistakes

We walked through the dale near Taipei.
We walked through the valley near Taipei.
'dale' is rarely used for non-British landscapes; 'valley' is the neutral term.

2. a scenic region of northern England (especially the Yorkshire Dales) known for i

2.nounB2
Definition

a scenic region of northern England (especially the Yorkshire Dales) known for its hills, valleys, stone-walled fields, and walking trails.

Example

The Otis family spent a week hiking through the Yorkshire Dales last summer.

proper noun: Yorkshire Dales

Dry-stone walls crisscross the Dales, marking field boundaries that are centuries old.

Common collocations
  • Yorkshire Dales
  • the Dales
  • walking in the Dales
  • Dales villages
  • Dales landscape
  • Dales National Park
  • the Dales region
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

the + Dales

Yorkshire + Dales

Usage Note

When capitalised as the Dales or the Yorkshire Dales, it refers to a specific national-park area in North Yorkshire, England. The uncapitalised plural dales can describe similar landscapes in other parts of northern Britain.

Common Mistakes

I visited the dale last weekend.' (meaning the Yorkshire Dales)
I visited the Dales last weekend.
when referring to the specific region in Yorkshire, capitalise and use the plural.

3. Sir Henry Hallett Dale (1875–1968), an English scientist who won the Nobel Prize

3.nounC1
Definition

Sir Henry Hallett Dale (1875–1968), an English scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1936 for discovering how nerve signals travel across synapses using chemical messengers.

Example

Sir Henry Dale showed that nerve endings release acetylcholine to carry signals between nerve cells.

discovery: chemical transmission across synapses

Dale's Nobel-winning work on chemical signalling is celebrated each year at the Royal Society's Dale Lecture.

proper noun: Dale Lecture; field: chemical signalling

Usage Note

This refers only to the person; 'Dale' in this sense is always capitalised and used with the title 'Sir' or as part of a compound name.

Common Mistakes

Henry Dale was a colonial governor.
Sir Henry Dale was a physiologist. Sir Thomas Dale was the colonial governor.
two different historical figures share the surname Dale.

4. Sir Thomas Dale (died 1619), an English naval officer who governed the Jamestown

4.nounC1
Definition

Sir Thomas Dale (died 1619), an English naval officer who governed the Jamestown colony in Virginia and created one of the earliest legal codes in English America.

Example

Sir Thomas Dale introduced a legal code that helped bring order to the Virginia Colony.

proper noun: Sir Thomas Dale

Dale's reforms at Jamestown included new farming rules and military discipline for settlers.

Usage Note

Less widely known than Sir Henry Dale; historical sources refer to him as 'Sir Thomas Dale, Knight' or 'Governor Dale of Virginia'.

Common Mistakes

Thomas Dale was a famous physiologist.
Thomas Dale was a colonial governor in Virginia. Sir Henry Dale was the Nobel-winning physiologist.
two different historical figures share the surname Dale.

Word family

  • dales
    noun (plural)B2
  • Dalesman
    nounC2
  • Daleswoman
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe low land between hills or mountains, but they differ in register and region. Valley is the standard, everyday term understood by all English speakers. Dale is a chiefly British word, common in place names and literary writing, but rare in ordinary speech outside northern England. Vale overlaps in meaning but is overtly poetic — you will find it in older literature and formal verse (e.g., 'this happy vale'). Glen is the Scottish and Irish word for a narrow, often steep-sided valley; it feels distinctly Celtic. In practice, a speaker of American English would almost never use dale, vale, or glen in conversation, while a walker in the Yorkshire Dales might use dale every day. If you want to be understood anywhere, say valley.

valley ↗valeglen ↗dale ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • the Yorkshire Dales
  • the Dales National Park
  • down into the dale
  • across the dale
  • in the dale

Etymology

Old EnglishGermanicEnglish

The word 'dale' comes from Old English 'dæl', meaning 'valley' or 'a portion of land'. It is related to Old Norse 'dalr', Dutch 'dal', and German 'Tal' (all meaning 'valley'). The word has been part of English since before the 8th century and appears in many English place names, such as Rochdale, Airedale, and the Yorkshire Dales, where it originally described the valley of a river.