noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Alternative spelling of gunwale. alt-of, alternative
2. 2
   small eellike fishes common in shallow waters of the northern Atlantic wordnet
3. 3
   A small eel-shaped marine fish of the family Pholidae, especially Pholis gunnellus.
4. 4
   wale at the top of the side of boat; topmost planking of a wooden vessel wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

alleyalleywaybracketed blennybutterfishcompanionfish

Etymology

From Middle English gonnewalle, itself from gonne (“gun”) + wale, as it used to support the ship's guns; equivalent to gun + wale.

Related phrases

to the gunnels

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.