PIBAL is a valid Scrabble word — 9 points
Yes. PIBAL is accepted by every list we check: Collins, the North American lists and Words with Friends. It scores 9 points in Scrabble and 12 in Words with Friends.
Which word lists accept PIBAL?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Valid |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Valid |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Valid |
Word power: 32 / 100
Our own measure of how useful PIBAL is to know. It scores 9 from 5 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 5.2% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for PIBAL
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
pibalsChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How PIBAL scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in PIBAL, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| p | 1 | 2 |
| i | 1 | 9 |
| b | 1 | 2 |
| a | 1 | 9 |
| l | 1 | 4 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 58,092.
What does PIBAL mean in Scrabble?
noun
technical
A small balloon released to track wind speed and direction at various altitudes, or the method of measuring wind by following such a balloon; short for pilot balloon.
Meteorologists send a pibal aloft and follow its rising path through binoculars or a tracking instrument, using the balloon's drift to calculate how fast and in which direction the wind is blowing at different heights. The word blends the two words in pilot balloon into a single technical term, much like other shortened meteorological terms. Weather stations once relied heavily on pibal observations before radar and satellite methods became widespread, though the technique is still used at some airports and research stations today.
How PIBAL is used
Pibal is a specialised meteorological term, used mainly by weather forecasters and researchers rather than in general conversation.
- The forecaster released a pibal at dawn to check the upper winds.
- Airport staff still track a pibal before certain flights depart.
- Readings from the pibal showed strong winds above five thousand feet.
- Researchers compared pibal data with newer satellite measurements.
- A sudden cloud cover made the pibal difficult to follow by eye.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of PIBAL and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Words starting with PIBAL
1 longer words begin with PIBAL.
Shorter words from the letters in PIBAL
Common questions about PIBAL
- Is PIBAL valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts PIBAL, where it scores 12 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is PIBAL worth?
- PIBAL is worth 9 points in Scrabble and 12 points in Words with Friends.
- What does PIBAL mean?
- A small balloon released to track wind speed and direction at various altitudes, or the method of measuring wind by following such a balloon; short for pilot balloon.
- What letters can be added to PIBAL?
- PIBAL takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of PIBAL:
Open PIBAL in the Word Finder