From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgalegale /ɡeɪl/ ●○○ noun [countable] 1 DNa very strong wind a severe galeit’s blowing a gale British English (=it’s very windy)► see thesaurus at wind2 → a gale/gales of laughterCOLLOCATIONSadjectivesa fierce gale (=a very strong wind)The tree was blown down during a fierce gale in 1987.a howling gale (=one that makes a lot of noise)The ship was drifting towards the shore in a howling gale.a severe/strong galeSevere gales disrupted road and rail travel throughout Britain.gale + NOUNgale force (=a measurement showing that a wind is extremely strong)The winds had increased to gale force.verbsa gale blowsIt was a grey winter’s day with an Atlantic gale blowing.it’s blowing a gale British English (=the wind is blowing very strongly)It was blowing a gale last night.
Examples from the Corpus
gale• However, the weather may not be so good, and rain and gales are frequent.• Up there to starboard, the Bering Sea whipped by arctic gales into choppy swells.• Ridge, hip and gable tiles are commonly displaced by gales, causing accumulation of debris in gutters, valleys and junctions.• Heavy rain driven by gales predicted for last night was forecast to continue for much of today.• A howling gale and torrential rain lashed the windows.• Rain, fog and mist are the acceptable accoutrements of northern gales.• The fence was blown down in the gale last night.• The ship sank in the gale.• The autumn and winter gales had already begun.Origin gale (1500-1600) Perhaps from Norwegian galen “bad” 