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swale

Pronunciation: /sweɪl/

The English word “swale” has 6 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A low tract of moist or marshy land.
  2. A long narrow and shallow trough between ridges on a beach, running parallel to the coastline.
  3. A shallow troughlike depression created to carry water during rainstorms or snow melts; a drainage ditch.
  4. Bioswale, a shallow trough dug into the land on contour (horizontally with no slope), whose purpose is to allow water time to percolate into the soil.
  5. A shallow, usually grassy depression sloping downward from a plains upland meadow or level vegetated ridgetop.
  6. A gutter in a candle.

Etymology

Possibly from Middle English swale (“a shady place, a shadow”), perhaps of North Germanic origin; akin to Old Norse svalr (“cool, fresh”), Icelandic svalir (“a balcony running along a wall”).

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