See Also:

ale (iou)



ale noun.

Beer, formerly esp. of unhopped or paler-coloured kinds, a type of this, a drink of this, now chiefly in real ale & as a trade word. Also (usu. with specifying word) a similar drink made from other ingredients. Cf. BEER noun1, PORTER noun2. OE.
brown ale, light ale, mild ale, pale ale, (trade terms). cakes and ale: see CAKE noun. ginger ale: see GINGER noun. real ale: see REAL adjective2. twopenny ale: see TWOPENNY adjective 1. yard of ale: see YARD noun2.
Chiefly Hist. A festival or gathering at which much ale is drunk. OE.
Comb.: ale-bench a bench in or at the front of an alehouse; aleberry (obsolete exc. dial.) ale boiled with spice, sugar, and sops of bread; porridge made with ale; aleconner an inspector of ale (still a titular office in some boroughs); alecost [COST noun1] = COSTMARY; ale-draper an alehouse-keeper; ale firkin a small barrel of ale; an old unit of liquid capacity equal to 9 (earlier 8) gallons; ale gallon an old unit of liquid capacity equal to 282 cu. in. (4.62 litres); alehouse (chiefly Hist.) a house where ale is retailed; ale-knight a frequenter of alehouses, a tippler; ale-taster an aleconner; ale-wort the fermenting infusion of malt.