ə̇mˈpāl, esp before pause or consonant -āəl transitive verb
also em·pale ə̇m, em-
Etymology: Middle French & Medieval Latin; Middle French empaler, from Medieval Latin impalare, from Latin in- in- (II) + palus stake, pole — more at pole
1. archaic
a. : to enclose with poles, stakes, or a palisade
b. : to hem in : enclose , surround , confine , encircle
2.
a. : to pierce or pierce through with a pole or with something pointed ; especially : to torture or kill by fixing on a sharp stake
b. : to fix in a position by piercing or piercing through with something pointed or to cause to be so fixed
the head … impaled upon the bowsprit of his sloop — Nike Anderson
having some man rush at you so that he impaled his chest upon the ice pick — Erle Stanley Gardner
a butterfly impaled by a pin — Louis Bromfield
c. : to fix in a position as if by piercing or piercing through in such a manner : fix in a position of defeat or helplessness or one from which there is no escape or retreat
impaled itself on a dilemma — S.W.Chapman
a question on which … he had always been insecurely impaled — Marcia Davenport
impaled his victim neatly with his logic — V.L.Parrington
d. : to deflate by telling logic or biting wit
3. : to join or conjoin in heraldry by impalement