rale
/ɹɑl/noun
rale is spelled R-A-L-E: 4 letters. It appears about once in every 22 million words in written English, the 143,405th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, rale means “An abnormal clicking, rattling or crackling sound, made by one or both lungs and heard with a stethoscope, caused by the popping open of airways…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rale is rales.
How many letters and syllables are in rale?
| Letters | 4: R-A-L-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 22 million words; the 143,405th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 rale?
Rale appears about once in every 22 million words in written English, the 143,405th 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 rale?
- UK /ɹɑːl/
- US /ɹɑl/
- US /ɹæl/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-rale.wav, En-us-ncalif-rales.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with rale?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as rale from its last stressed vowel (/ɑl/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: real, earl, lear, lare.
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 rale
- rales plural
- râle
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rale mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An abnormal clicking, rattling or crackling sound, made by one or both lungs and heard with a stethoscope, caused by the popping open of airways collapsed by fluid or exudate, or sometimes by pulmonary edema.
If you were to tell a patient that he had a ‘rhonchus’ in his chest, he would imagine that it was something formidable, while, if you said that he had a ‘râle’ he would not be alarmed.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rale in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense abnormal sound made by lungs and heard with a stethoscope:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | crépitants, râle |
| German | Rasselgeräusch |
| Portuguese | rala |
| Spanish | crepitante |
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 rale come from?
From French râle (“groan”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).