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PlainSpell

impale

/ɪmˈpeɪl/verb

impale is spelled I-M-P-A-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 73,203rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, impale means “To pierce (something) with any long, pointed object” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in impale?

Letters6: I-M-P-A-L-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 6 million words; the 73,203rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is impale?

Impale appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 73,203rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce impale?

  • US /ɪmˈpeɪl/

Impale has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-impale.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with impale?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as impale from its last stressed vowel (/eɪl/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of impale

  • impales present, singular, he/she/it
  • impaling participle, present
  • impaled participle, past
  • empale

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does impale mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To pierce (something) with any long, pointed object.

  2. 2

    To place two coats of arms side by side on the same shield (often those of two spouses upon marriage).

  3. 3

    To pierce with a pale; to put to death by fixing on a sharp stake.

  4. 4

    To enclose or fence with stakes.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Impale in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchempaler (put to death by piercing with a pale)
Germanpfählen, erstechen (put to death by piercing with a pale), aufspießen (pierce something with any long, pointed object)
Portugueseempalar (put to death by piercing with a pale)
Spanishempalar (put to death by piercing with a pale), ensartar, atravesar (pierce something with any long, pointed object)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does impale come from?

From Middle French, from Medieval Latin impālāre, from Latin palus, whence also pale.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after impale