From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishimpaleim‧pale /ɪmˈpeɪl/ verb [transitive] PUSHif someone or something is impaled, a sharp pointed object goes through thembe impaled on something Their heads were impaled on Charles Bridge as a warning to others.Grammar Impale is often used in the passive. —impalement noun [countable, uncountable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
impale• His blue-grey eyes were as cold as a Siberian winter, and Polly felt as though she had been impaled by twin icicles.• Delaforce was impaled on the control column, but by then his neck was broken anyway.• I missed the door, however, and became impaled on the Frederick Hart sculpture.• Despite keeping such company, he did not hesitate to impale the rich and mighty on his pen.• He was holding a stout branch, and impaled upon it was the bloody head of the leopard.• His legs were impaled with a thousand needles of pine and hemlock; hemlock cones and crabapple were strapped to his waist.• Women first are presented as bloodsucking threats, then impaled with gusto.be impaled on something• She was about to be impaled on jagged strips of metal.• Twelve of their heads were impaled on the Charles Bridge pour encourager les autres and remained there for more than a decade.• Delaforce was impaled on the control column, but by then his neck was broken anyway.Origin impale (1500-1600) French empaler, from Medieval Latin impalare, from Latin palus “pointed stick” 