4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Empale  \Em*pale"\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Empaled};  p.  pr  &  vb 
  n.  {Empaling}.]  [OF.  empaler  to  palisade,  pierce,  F.  empaler 
  to  punish  by  empalement;  pref.  em-  (L.  in)  +  OF  &  F.  pal  a 
  pale,  stake.  See  {Pale}  a  stake,  and  cf  {Impale}.]  [Written 
  also  {impale}.] 
  1.  To  fence  or  fortify  with  stakes;  to  surround  with  a  line 
  of  stakes  for  defense;  to  impale. 
 
  All  that  dwell  near  enemies  empale  villages,  to  save 
  themselves  from  surprise.  --Sir  W. 
  Raleigh. 
 
  2.  To  inclose;  to  surround.  See  {Impale}. 
 
  3.  To  put  to  death  by  thrusting  a  sharpened  stake  through  the 
  body. 
 
  4.  (Her.)  Same  as  {Impale}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Impale  \Im*pale"\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Impaled};  p.  pr  &  vb 
  n.  {Impaling}.]  [See  2d  {Empale}.] 
  1.  To  pierce  with  a  pale;  to  put  to  death  by  fixing  on  a 
  sharp  stake.  See  {Empale}. 
 
  Then  with  what  life  remains,  impaled,  and  left  To 
  writhe  at  leisure  round  the  bloody  stake.  --Addison. 
 
  2.  To  inclose,  as  with  pales  or  stakes;  to  surround. 
 
  Impale  him  with  your  weapons  round  about  --Shak. 
 
  Impenetrable,  impaled  with  circling  fire.  --Milton. 
 
  3.  (Her.)  To  join  as  two  coats  of  arms  on  one  shield, 
  palewise;  hence  to  join  in  honorable  mention. 
 
  Ordered  the  admission  of  St  Patrick  to  the  same  to 
  be  matched  and  impaled  with  the  blessed  Virgin  in 
  the  honor  thereof.  --Fuller. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  impale 
  v  1:  pierce  with  a  sharp  stake  or  point;  "impale  a  shrimp  on  a 
  skewer"  [syn:  {transfix},  {empale},  {spike}] 
  2:  kill  by  piercing  with  a  spear  or  sharp  pole;  "the  enemies 
  were  impaled  and  left  to  die"  [syn:  {stake}] 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  IMPALE,  v.t.  In  popular  usage  to  pierce  with  any  weapon  which  remains 
  fixed  in  the  wound.  This  however,  is  inaccurate;  to  imaple  is 
  properly,  to  put  to  death  by  thrusting  an  upright  sharp  stake  into  the 
  body,  the  victim  being  left  in  a  sitting  position.  This  was  a  common 
  mode  of  punishment  among  many  of  the  nations  of  antiquity,  and  is 
  still  in  high  favor  in  China  and  other  parts  of  Asia.  Down  to  the 
  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  it  was  widely  employed  in 
  churching"  heretics  and  schismatics.  Wolecraft  calls  it  the  "stoole 
  of  repentynge,"  and  among  the  common  people  it  was  jocularly  known  as 
  "riding  the  one  legged  horse."  Ludwig  Salzmann  informs  us  that  in 
  Thibet  impalement  is  considered  the  most  appropriate  punishment  for 
  crimes  against  religion;  and  although  in  China  it  is  sometimes  awarded 
  for  secular  offences,  it  is  most  frequently  adjudged  in  cases  of 
  sacrilege.  To  the  person  in  actual  experience  of  impalement  it  must 
  be  a  matter  of  minor  importance  by  what  kind  of  civil  or  religious 
  dissent  he  was  made  acquainted  with  its  discomforts;  but  doubtless  he 
  would  feel  a  certain  satisfaction  if  able  to  contemplate  himself  in 
  the  character  of  a  weather-cock  on  the  spire  of  the  True  Church. 
 
 

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