Shale \Shale\, n. [AS. scealy, scalu. See Scalme, and cf. Shell.]

1. A shell or husk; a cod or pod. ``The green shales of a bean.'' --Chapman.

2. [G. shale.]

(Geol.) A fine-grained sedimentary rock of a thin, laminated, and often friable, structure.

Bituminous shale. See under Bituminous.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Shale \Shale\, v. t. To take off the shell or coat of; to shell.

Life, in its upper grades, was bursting its shell, or was shaling off its husk. --I. Taylor.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)