stale 
This like liuldre (that may to hevene leste) is charite, 
Thf stales gode theawis. 
Quoted in Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), Gloss., p. 196. 
VVyramen vnwyttS that wale ne couthe 
That on hande fro that other, for alle this hyje worlde, 
Bitwene the stele and the stayre disserne nojt cunen. 
Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), ill. 513. 
stale 3 (still), (i. and n. [< ME. stale, stale (ap- 
plied to ale and beer) ; < OF. estate (Kilian), 
< MD. stct, old, ancient, applied to old and 
purified beer and to old urine (stel bier, stele 
pissc, Kilian; later written as compound, stel- 
hiri; slel-pisse, Hexham); origin uncertain; per- 
haps lit. ' still,' same as MD. stel, var. oi' xtil. 
still (cf. still wine, etc.): see still*. According 
to Skeat, who associates the adj. with xtalf, 
urine, ''stale is that which reminds one of tin- 
stable, tainted, etc."; he also suggests that 
stale in one sense may be 'too long exposed 
to sale,' < OF. estaler, "display wares on stalls, 
< estril, a stall: see stall*. This explanation. 
however, fails to satisfy the conditions.] I. a. 
If. Old (and therefore strong) : said of malt 
liquors, which in this condition were more in 
demand. 
And notemuge to putte in ale, 
Whether it be moyste or stale. 
Chaucer, Sir Thopas, 1. 63. 
Sappy ale, good and stale, in a browne bowle. 
The King and Miller of Mansfield (Child's Ballads, VIII. SO). 
Two barrels of ale, both stout and stale, 
To pledge that health was spent. 
The Kings Disguise (Chiltfs Ballads, V. 379). 
2. Old and lifeless; the worse for age or for 
keeping; partially spoiled, (a) Insipid, flat, orsour; 
having lost its sparkle or life, especially from exposure 
to air : as, stale beer, etc. (6) Dry and crumbling ; musty : 
as, stale bread. 
That stale old mouse-eaten dry cheese. 
Shak.,T. andC., v. 4. 11. 
3. Old and trite ; lacking in novelty or fresh- 
ness; hackneyed: as, stale news; a stall' jest. 
Fast bind, fast find ; 
A proverb never stale in thrifty mind. 
. of V.,ii. S. 53. 
Your cold hypocrisy 's a stale device. 
Addison, Cato, i. M. 
4. In athletics, overtrained; injured by over- 
training: noting the person or his condition. 
= Syn. 3. Time-worn, threadbare. 
II. n. If. That which has become flat and 
tasteless, or spoiled by use or exposure, as 
stale beer. Hence 2t. A prostitute. 
I stand dishonour'd, that have gone about 
To link my dear friend to a common stale. 
Shalt., Much Ado, iv. 1. 67. 
3. A stalemate. 
Doe you not foresee, into what importable head-tear- 
ings and heart-searchings you will be ingulfed, when the 
Parliament shall give you a mate, though but a Stale? 
If. Ward, Simple Oobler, p. 61. 
stale 3 (stal), r. t. ; pret. and pp. staled, ppr. stal- 
ing. [ME. stolen; < stale 3 , </.] To render stale, 
flat, or insipid ; deprive of freshness, attraction, 
or interest; make common or cheap. 
Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale 
Her infinite variety. Shak., A. and C., ii. 2. 240. 
I'll go tell all the argument of his play afore-hand, and 
so stale his invention. B. Joiaim, Cynthia's Revels, Ind. 
Not content 
To stale himself in all societies, 
He makes my house here common as a mart. 
B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, ii. 1. 
An imperial abdication was an event which had not, in 
the sixteenth century, been staled by custom. 
Motley, Dutch Republic, I. 96. 
stale 4 (stal), f. i. ; pret. and pp. staled, ppr. stal- 
ing. [Appar. < D. G. stallen = Sw. stalla = 
Dan. stalle, urinate (said of horses and cattle); 
appar. a neuter use, lit. 'stand in stall, 'parallel 
with the trans, use, D. G. stallen = Sw. stalla = 
Dan. stalle, put into a stall; from the noun, D. 
stal = G. stall = Sw. stall = Dan. staid, stall: 
see stall 1 , n. The form is appar. irreg. (for 
"stall), and is perhaps due to confusion with 
stak 3 , a., as applied to urine.] To make water; 
urinate: said of horses and cattle. 
In that Moschee or Temple at Theke Thioi is a foun- 
taine of water, which they say sprang vp of the staling of 
Chederles horse. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 311. 
stale 4 (stal), H. [See stale*, r.] Urine of horses 
and cattle. 
Stale 6 t. An old preterit of steal*. 
Stalely (stal'll), adr. [< stales + _ty2.] r n a 
stale, commonplace, or hackneyed manner; so 
as to seem flat or tedious. 
Come, I will not sue stalely to be your servant, 
But, a new term, will you be my refuge? 
B. Jonson, Case is Altered, ii. 3. 
Stalemate (stal'mftt), . [Prob. < stale'* (but 
the first element is doubtful) + mate 3 .] In 
5892 
eJiess, a position in which a player, having to 
move in his turn, and his king not being in 
check, has no move available with any piece: 
in such a case the game is drawn ; figuratively, 
any position in which no action can be taken. 
It would be disgraceful indeed if a great country like 
Russia should have run herself into such a stair- unit,' 
position. Contemporary Rev., L. 444. 
Stalemate (stal'mat), c. t. ; pret. and pp. xtalf- 
mated, ppr. stalfimitiiii/. [< .stalemate, n.] 1. 
In chess, to subject to a stalemate : usually said 
of one's self, not of one's adversary: as, white 
is stalemated. Hence 2. To bring to a stand- 
still; nonplus. 
I had regularly stalemated him. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, II. xviii. 
" I beg your pardon, sir," said Fred, . . . " I like neither 
Bulstrode nor speculation." He spoke rather sulkily, feel- 
ing himself stalemated. George Eliot, Middlemarch, xii. 
staleness (stal'nes), . The state of being stale, 
in anv sense. 
Stalk 1 ' (stak), r. [< ME. xtalkeii, < AS. ta-l<;in. 
stealcian, walk warily, = Dan. stulke, stalk : 
(a) lit. walk stealthily, steal along; with for- 
mative -k, from the root of stelait (pret. xtxl), 
steal: see steal 1 , and cf. stale 1 , n. (b) In an- 
other view the AS. stslcan, stealcian, is con- 
nected with stealc, high, and means 'walk 
high,' i. e. on tiptoe, being referred ult. to the 
same source as stalk 2 , and perhaps stilt. For 
the form stalk as related to stale 1 (and steal 1 ), 
cf. talk as related to tale (and tell).'] I. in- 
trans. 1. To walk cautiously or stealthily; 
steal along; creep. 
In the night ful theefly gan he stallff. 
Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 1781. 
The shadows of familiar things about him stalked like 
ghosts through the haunted chambers of his soul. 
Longfellmr, Hyperion, iv. 3. 
2. To steal up to game under cover of some- 
thing else ; hunt game by approaching stealth- 
ily and warily behind a cover. 
The king [James] alighted out of his coach, and crept 
under the shoulder of his led horse. And when some 
asked his Majesty what he meant, I must stalk (said hex 
for yonder town is shy and flies me. 
Bacon, Apophthegms, published by Dr. Tenison In the 
[Baconians, xl. 
Dull stupid Lentnlus, 
My stale, with whom I stalle. 
B. Jonfon, Catiline, ill. 3. 
3. To walk with slow, dignified strides ; pace 
in a lofty, imposing manner. 
Here stalks me by a proud and spangled sir, 
That looks three handfuls [palms] higher than hisforetop. 
B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, 111. 4. 
II. trans. In sporting, to pursue stealthily, 
or behind a cover; follow warily for the pur- 
pose of killing, as game. 
When a lion Is very hungry, and lying In wait, the sight 
of an animal may make him commence stalking it. 
Livingstone. (Imp. Diet.) 
There came three men outside the hedge, . . . not walk- 
ing carelessly, but following down the hedge-trough, as if 
to stalk some enemy. 
R. D. Blackmore, Lorna Doone, xxxviii. 
Stalk 1 (stak), . [< stalk*, ?.] 1. The pur- 
suit of game by stealthy approach or under 
cover. 
I took up the trail of a large bull elk, and, though after 
a while I lost the track, in the end I ran across the ani- 
mal itself, and after a snort stalk got a shot at the noble- 
looking fellow. The Century, XXX. 224. 
2. A high, proud, stately step or walk. 
Twice before, and jump at this dead hour, 
With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch. 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 1. 66. 
But Milton next, with high and haughty stalla, 
Unfettered in majestic numbers walks. 
Addison, The Greatest English Poets, 1. 56. 
stalk 2 (stak), M. [< ME. stalke; prob. a var. 
(due to association with the related ste/e 2 f ) of 
stelk, < Icel. stilkr = Sw. stjelk = Dan. stilk, a 
stalk (cf. Gr. arefoxof, the stem of a tree); 
with formative -k, from the simple form ap- 
pearing in AS. steel, stel, a handle, stale: see 
stote 2 .] 1. The stem or main axis of a plant; 
that part of a plant which rises directly from 
the root, and which usually supports the leaves, 
flowers, and fruit : as, a stalk of wheat or hemp. 
I had sometimes the curiosity to consider beans and peas 
pulled up out of the ground by the stalks, in order to an 
inquiry' into their germination. Boyle, Works, III. 310. 
Some naked Stalk, not quite decay'd, 
To yield a fresh and friendly Bud essay'd. 
Congreve, Tears of Amaryllis. 
2. The pedicel of a flower or the peduncle of a 
flower-cluster (flower-stalk), the petiole of a 
leaf (leafstalk), the stipe of an ovary, etc., or 
any similar supporting organ; in mosses, a seta. 
3f. A straw. 
stalklet 
He kan wel in myn eye seen a ytu/lr 1 . 
But in his owene he kan nat seen a balke. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Reeve's Tale, 1. 05. 
4. In arch., an ornament in the Corinthian cap- 
ital which resembles the stalk of a plant, and 
is sometimes fluted. From it the volutes or 
helices spring. Compare caulin and caitlieuliix. 
5t. One of the upright side-pieces of a ladder, 
in which the rounds or steps are placed. 
His owene hande made laddres thre 
To clymben by the ronges and the stalkes 
Into the tubbes, hangynge in the balkes. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. 439. 
6. The shaft or handle of anything, especially 
when slender, likened to the stalk of a plant ; 
the stem : as the stall- of n wine-glass ; the stalk 
of a tobacco-pipe. 7. In zool., some part or or- 
gan like a stalk ; a stem ; a stipe, (a) A pedicel or 
peduncle ; a footstalk ; a supporting part : as, the stalk of 
some barnacles. (6) An eyestalk, as of various crustaceans 
and mollusks ; an ophthalmite or onimatophore. (c) The 
petiole of the abdomen of many insects, especially hyme- 
nopters, as wasps and ants, (d) The stem, shaft, or rachis 
of a feather, (e) The stem of a fixed crinoid and of vaiious 
other animals of plant-like habit, as rooted zoophytes. 
8. A tall chimney, as of a furnace, factory, or 
laboratory. 
Twisted stalks of chimneys f heavy stonework. 
Scott, Kenilworth, Hi. 
9. In founding, an iron rod armed with spikes, 
used to form the nucleus of a core. Ji. //. 
Knit/lit Optic Stalk. Seeopftr. 
stali-borer (stak'bor'er), H. The larva of Gor- 
tyna nitela, a noctuid moth of North America, 
which is noted as a pest to potato, corn, tomato, 
and a number of other plants. The larva- bore Into 
the stalks, killing them, and when full-grown leave the 
plant and pupate below ground. 
stalk-cutter (stak'kut*6r), w. In agri. , a horse- 
power machine for cutting off old corn-stalks in 
the field preparatory to plowing, it consists of a 
series of revolving cylindrical cutters mounted In a suita- 
ble frame on wheels, and operated by means of gearing 
from the axles. 
Stalked (stakt), a. [<staltf + -ecP.] Haying a 
stalk or stem : as, a stalked barnacle or crinoid. 
Innumerable crabs make a sound almost like the mur- 
muring of water. Some are very large, with prodigious 
stalked eyes, and claws white as ivory. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVII. 62& 
Stalker (sta'ker), n. [< stalk* + -er*.~] 1. One 
who stalks: as, a deer-stalker. 2. A kind of 
fishing-net. 3. pi. In ornith., specifically, the 
Gradatores. 
stalk-eyed (stak'Jd), a. Having stalked eyes; 
podophthalmous, as a crustacean : opposed to 
A Sulk-eyed Crustacean {Ocypoda dilatata). 
a, a, the long eye-stalks. 
sessile-eyed. See also cuts under Podophthal- 
mia, Gelasimits, Meyalops, and schiiopod-stage. 
They all have their eyes set upon movable stalks, are 
termed the Podophthalmia, or stalk-eyed Crustacea. 
Utixley, Crayflsh, p. 279. 
Stalking (sta'king), n. [Verbal n. of stalk*, .] 
In sporting, the act or method of approaching 
game quietly and warily or under cover, taking 
advantage of the inequalities of the ground, 
etc., as in deer-stalking. 
stalking-horse (sta'king-hors), . 1. A horse, 
or a horse-like figure, behind which a fowler 
conceals himself on approaching game. 
The stalking-horse, originally, was a horse trained for 
the purpose and covered witli trappings, so as to conceal 
the sportsman from the game he intended to shoot at. 
Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 98. 
Hence 2. Anything put forward to conceal 
a more important object; a mask; a pretense. 
Flattery is 
The stalking-horse of policy. 
Shirley, Maid's Revenge, II. 3. 
France suffered all the evils which exist when a despotic 
ruler is but the stalking-horse behind which stands the 
irresponsible power. Fortnightly Rev., N. S., XLIII. 826. 
Stalkless (stak'les), a. [< stalk'* + -less.'] 
Having no stalk. 
Stalklet (stak 'let), . [< stam + -let.'} A 
diminutive stalk; especially, in but., a secon- 
dary stalk ; a pedicel or petiolule. 
