Bale

Bale is the French name of a city in Switzerland named Basle in Germany.

A bundle of hay, cotton, paper, staves etc is also called a bale. It is tightly wrapped and bound with cords or hoops. The quantity in a bale or cotton measuring 500 pounds is also called bale.

As a literary term, bale is either an evil considered as a destructive force, or an evil suffered in the form of physical torment or mental suffering. However, in this sense of the term in now considered archaic.