impale
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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They evolved near the base of the ant family tree and sported sharp, sickle-shaped tusks that may have slammed upward to impale other insects.
From Science Magazine ● May 23, 2019
In any case, it’s an environment that you move around in, not some map you impale with little pins.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 30, 2018
Some female chimpanzees sharpen sticks with their teeth and use them to impale bush babies for food.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2018
The film’s writers, directors and stars lovingly impale bloodsucker mythology with the sharpened wooden stick of comedy.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 18, 2015
Annabeth stepped around random bristles sharp enough to impale her foot, and clusters of...well, not rocks exactly.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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The Doctors Dr. Ordon’s coronavirus diagnosis and road to recovery; a toothbrush impales child; children’s teeth reveal emotional trauma; instant eye de-puffer; hospice care; liver cancer risk.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2020
But suck it up, because next is a pure songwriting masterclass in “Shrike,” which is titled after a bird that impales insects on thorns.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 4, 2019
O’Reilly impales himself on a contradiction: He says his book is “laudatory” about Reagan — and that it is being attacked by Reagan “guardians” and “loyalists.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 10, 2015
“Emperor of Mongolia, Emperor of China,” he roars, “I will be Emperor of the world!”–and impales a map with his sword.
From Time ● Dec. 11, 2014
And on the right hand it impales Hungerford, supported by two boars with the Courtenay label round their necks.
From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 19, No. 554, June 30, 1832 by Various
The winner takes home a turnip impaled on a rusty six inch nail in a block of wood as a trophy and a blue plaque.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2025
That’s when the Yankees impaled themselves on their pinstripes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2024
Local fire department personnel and state police responded early Saturday to find the animal not impaled on the structure but unable to get its belly and rear legs over the top.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 1, 2022
“It’s sort of like if the Mona Lisa had been impaled somehow,” Neil Myers, a landscape artist who painted a 24-by-30-inch portrait of the cactus in 2007, told The Washington Post.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 31, 2022
He saw the bones of a thousand other dreamers impaled upon their points.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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An American, 47, reportedly tried to climb over a fence in Piazza del Colosseo, presumably to get a closer look at the Colosseum, before falling and impaling himself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2025
The new 0.6-mile route replaces one general traffic lane of West Marginal Way Southwest with waist-high concrete dividers for the two-way bike lane, along with yellow-and-black steel attenuators that prevent drivers from impaling their cars.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 24, 2023
The insect-eating birds have beaks like swords, appropriate for stabbing and impaling insects.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Oltmann also added during his podcast that he could have been worse off, but he was already taking the antibiotic doxycycline after accidentally impaling himself with an arrow at his brother's house.
From Salon ● Dec. 23, 2021
When the railroad police came through the train, impaling the haystacks to flush out stowaways, the trainers packed the boys into tack trunks.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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Vocabulary lists containing impale
"Balboa," Vocabulary from the short story
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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All the Pretty Horses
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