The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Bale \Bale\ (b[=a]l), n. [OE. bale, OF. bale, F. balle, LL.
   bala, fr. OHG. balla, palla, pallo, G. ball, balle, ballen,
   ball, round pack; cf. D. baal. Cf. Ball a round body.]
   A bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for
   storage or transportation; also, a bundle of straw, hay,
   etc., put up compactly for transportation.
   [1913 Webster]

   Bale of dice, a pair of dice. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Bale \Bale\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Baled (b[=a]ld); p. pr. & vb.
   n. Baling.]
   To make up in a bale. --Goldsmith.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Bale \Bale\, v. t.
   See Bail, v. t., to lade.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Bale \Bale\ (b[=a]l), n. [AS. bealo, bealu, balu; akin to OS.
   balu, OHG. balo, Icel. b["o]l, Goth. balweins.]
   1. Misery; calamity; misfortune; sorrow.
      [1913 Webster]

            Let now your bliss be turned into bale. --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Evil; an evil, pernicious influence; something causing
      great injury. [Now chiefly poetic]
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

bale
    n 1: a large bundle bound for storage or transport
    2: a city in northwestern Switzerland [syn: Basel, Basle,
       Bale]
    v 1: make into a bale; "bale hay"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

82 Moby Thesaurus words for "bale":
   aching heart, agony, agony of mind, anguish, bind up, bindle,
   bitterness, bleeding heart, bolt, bouquet, broken heart, budget,
   bundle, bundle up, burden, burdening, burthen, cargo, charge,
   charging, crushing, cumber, cumbrance, deadweight, deck,
   depression, depth of misery, desolation, despair, do up, drag,
   encumbrance, extremity, fagot, fardel, fasces, fascine, freight,
   grief, handicap, heartache, heavy heart, incubus, incumbency,
   infelicity, lading, load, loading, melancholia, melancholy,
   millstone, misery, nosegay, oppression, overload, overtaxing,
   overweighting, pack, package, packet, parcel, posy, pressure,
   prostration, quiver, roll, roll up, rouleau, saddling, sadness,
   sheaf, suicidal despair, superincumbency, surcharge, taxing,
   tie up, truss, truss up, woe, wrap, wrap up, wretchedness