gale force

English

Noun

gale force (uncountable)

1. (weather) Of a wind, having the speed and strength of a gale.
   • 1960 March, “The January blizzard in the North-East of Scotland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 137:

     By the afternoon it seemed as if the storm had passed and that frost was setting in; but in the evening the wind rose to gale force, bringing telegraph poles down like skittles and tangling power and telephone lines.

Alternative forms

• gale-force, galeforce (adjective)

References

“gale-force”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.