• Stale

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /steɪl/
    • Rhymes: -eɪl

    Origin 1

    From Middle English, from Old English stalu, from Proto-Germanic *stal-

    Oxford English Dictionary. "Stale, n. 1".

    Full definition of stale

    Noun

    stale

    (plural stales)
    1. (crime, obsolete) Theft; the act of stealing
    2. (crime, obsolete) Stealth, used in the phrase by stale
      • circa 1240, Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom., 249Hire wune is to cumen bi stale...hwen me least cweneð.

    Origin 2

    From Middle English, from Old English stalu, from Proto-Germanic *stal-. The development was paralleled by the ablaut which became English steal, from Middle English stele, from Old English stela, from Proto-Germanic *stel-.

    Oxford English Dictionary. "Stale, n. 2" & "v. 4".

    The latter also produced Greek στελεός (steleós, "handle") and Latin stēla, which became English stele and stela.

    Noun

    stale

    (plural stales)
    1. A long, thin handle, as of rakes, axes, &c.
      • 12th c., Sidonius Glosses in Anecd. Oxon., I v 59 22Ansae et ansulae alicuius rei sunt illa eminentia in illa re per quam capi possit .i. ‘stale’.
      • circa 1393, Langland, Piers Plowman (Vesp. MS), C xxii 279And lerede men a ladel bygge with a long stale
      • 1742, W. Ellis, London & Country Brewer 4th ed., I 61In Case your Cask is a Butt,...have ready boiling...Water, which put in, and, with a long Stale and a little Birch fastened to its End, scrub the Bottom.
      • 1890 Feb 4, Manchester Guardian, 12 3You came to me with the axe head in one hand and the stale in the other.
    2. (dialectical) The posts and rungs composing a ladder
      • 13th c., Ancrene Riwle, 160Scheome. and pine...beoð þe two leddre stalen. þet beoð upriht to þe heouene. and bitweonen þeos stalen beoð þe tindes i-vestned of alle gode þeauwes. bi hwuche me climbeð to þe blisse of heouene.
      • circa 1315, Shoreham Poems, I 49Þis ilke laddre is charite, Þe stales gode þeawis.
      • 1887, W. D. Parish & al., Kentish Dial.Stales, the staves, or risings of a ladder, or the staves of a rack in a stable.
    3. (botany, obsolete) The stem of a plant
    4. The shaft of an arrow, spear, &c.
      • 1553, J. Brende translating Q. Curtius Rufus, Hist., IXThe Surgians cut of the stale of that shaft in suche wise, that they moued not the heade that was wythin the fleshe.
      • circa 1611, G. Chapman translating Homer, Iliad, IV 173...seeing th'arrowes stale without.

    Alternative forms

    Synonyms

    • handle (grip of tools, generally)
    • haft (handle of axes)
    • shaft (body of arrows, spears, &c.)
    • stem (plants)

    Verb

    1. (transitive, obsolete) To make a ladder by joining rungs ("stales") between the posts
      • 1492 in Archæol. Cant., XVI 304For stalyng of the ladders of the Churche xx d.

    Origin 3

    From Middle English stail, from Old French estal ("place, something placed") (cp. French étal), from Frankish stal,

    Oxford English Dictionary. "Stale, n. 4", "n. 6", "v. 3", and "adj. 2".

    from Proto-Germanic *stallo-, earlier *staþlo-. Related to stall and stand.

    Noun

    stale

    (plural stales)
    1. (military, obsolete) A fixed position, particularly a soldier's in a battle-line.
    2. (chess, uncommon) A stalemate; a stalemated game
      • 1423, Kingis Quair, CLXIX‘Off mate?’ quod sche...‘thou has fundin stale This mony day’.
      • 1625, Francis Bacon, Essays, 65They stand at a stay; Like a Stale at Chesse, where it is no Mate, but yet the Game cannot stirre.
    3. (military, obsolete) An ambush.
      • circa 1425, Wyntoun Cron., IX viii 811And he in stale howyd al stil.
      • 1513, G. Douglas translating Virgil, Æneid, XI x 96It is a stelling place and sovir harbry, Quhar ost in staill or embuschment may ly.
      • 1577, R. Holinshed, Chron., II 1479 2The erle of Essex...with .ii. C. speares was layde in a stale, if the Frenchmen had come neerer.
    4. (obsolete) A band of armed men or hunters
    5. (Scottish, military, obsolete) The main force of an army
      • 1532 in 1836, State Papers Henry VIII, IV 626Neveryeles I knaw asweill by Englisemen as Scottishmen that their stale was no les then thre thowsand men.

    Derived terms

    Adjective

    1. (chess, obsolete) at a standstill; stalemated
      • circa 1470, Ashmolean MS 344, 21Then drawith he & is stale.

    Verb

    1. (chess, uncommon, transitive) to stalemate
      • circa 1470, Ashmole MS 344, 7He shall stale þe black kyng in the pointe þer the crosse standith.
      • 1903, H. J. R. Murray, Brit. Chess. Mag., 283In China, however, a player who stales his opponent's King, wins the game.
    2. (chess, obsolete, intransitive) to be stalemated
      • 1597, A. Montgomerie, Cherrie & Slae, 202For vnder cuire I got sik check, that I micht neither muife nor neck, bot ather stale or mait.

    Origin 4

    Uncertain. Perhaps Old French estaler, related to the Middle High German stallen ("to piss").

    Oxford English Dictionary. "Stale, n. 5" and "v. 1".

    Noun

    stale

    (uncountable)
    1. (livestock, obsolete) Urine, especially used of horses and cattle
      • 14th c., Stockh. Medical MS. in Anglia XVIII 299In werd ben men & women...þat þer stale mown not holde.
      • 1535, Miles Coverdale translating the , "Isaiah", XXXVI 100...That they be not compelled to eate their owne donge, and drinke their owne stale with you?
      • 1548, Robert Record, Vrinal of Physick, XI 89The stale of Camels and Goats...is good for them that have the dropsie.
      • 1583, B. Melbancke, PhilotimusOr annoint thy selfe with the stale of a mule.
      • 1603, John Florio translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, I  48Those of Crotta being hardly besieged by Metellus, were reduced to so hard a pinch, and strait necessitie of all manner of other beverage, that they were forced to drinke the stale or urine of their horses.
      • circa 1616, William Shakespeare, Antony & Cleopatra, I iv 62Thou did'st drinke The stale of Horses.
      • 1698, J. Fryer, New Acct. E.-India & Persia, 242Mice and Weasels by their poysonous Stale infect the Trees so, that they produce Worms.
      • 1733, W. Ellis, Chiltern & Vale Farming, 122Sheep, whose Dung and Stale is of most Virtue in the Nourishment of all Trees.

    Derived terms

    Verb

    1. (livestock, obsolete, intransitive) To urinate, especially used of horses and cattle.
      • 15th c., Lawis Gild, X in Ancient Laws and Customs of the Burghs of Scotland, 68Gif ony stal in the yet of the gilde...he sall gif iiijd. to the mendis.
      • 1530, John Palsgrave, L'éclaircissement de la langue française, 732 1Tary a whyle, your hors wyll staale.
      • 1631, Ben Jonson, Bartholmew Fayre I iv 64Why a pox o' your boxe, once againe: let your little wife stale in it, and she will.
      • 1663, T. Killigrew, Parson's Wedding, I iiiI wonder knight's son doth not go on all four too, and hold up his Leg when he stales.
      • 1903, Rudyard Kipling, Five Nations, 150Cattle-dung where fuel failed; Water where the mules had staled; And sackcloth for their raiment.
      • circa 1920, Aleister Crowley, " Sublime"You stale like a mare
        And fart as you stale
      • 1928, Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Penguin 2013, p. 35:A mile or two before we got to the meet he stopped at an inn, where he put our horses into the stable for twenty minutes, ‘to give them a chance to stale’.

    Usage notes

    Occasionally transitive, when in reference to horses or men pissing blood.

    Origin 5

    From Middle English of uncertain etymology, but probably originally from Proto-Germanic *sta- ("to stand"): cf. Flemish stel in the same sense for beer and urine

    Oxford English Dictionary. "Stale, adj. 1" & "n. 7".

    Adjective

    stale

    1. (alcohol, obsolete) clear, free of dregs and lees; old and strong
    2. no longer fresh, in reference to food, urine, straw, wounds
    3. no longer fresh, new, or interesting, in reference to ideas and immaterial things; cliche, hackneyed, dated
      • 1562, in 1867, J. Heywood, Proverbs & Epigrams, 95Better is...be it new or stale, A harmelesse lie, than a harmefull true tale.
      • 1579, in G. Harvey, letter book, 60Doist thou smyle to reade this stale and beggarlye stuffe.
      • 1604, William Shakespeare, , I ii 133How wary, stale, flat, and vnprofitable Seeme to me all the vses of this world?
      • 1822 March, Charles Lamb, London Magazine, 284 1A two-days-old newspaper. You resent the stale thing as an affront.
    4. no longer nubile or suitable for marriage, in reference to people; past one's prime
      • circa 1580, J. Jeffere, Bugbears, I ii 108Rosimunda...hathe an vncle a stale batcheler.
      • 1742, T. Short, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 42 226In barren Women, and stale Maids, Tapping should be very cautiously undertaken.
    5. (agriculture, obsolete) fallow, in reference to land
      • 1764, Museum Rusticum, II 306Lime would do very little or no good on stale ploughed lands.
    6. (legal) unreasonably long in coming, in reference to claims and actionsa stale affidavita stale demand
      • 1769, William Blackstone, Common Laws of England, IV xv 211The jury will rarely give credit to a stale complaint.
    7. worn out, particularly due to age or over-exertion, in reference to athletes and animals in competition
      • 1856, "Stonehenge", Manual of British Rural Sports, II i vi §7 335By this means the horse's legs are not made more stale than necessary.
      • 1885 May 28, Truth, 853 2Dame Agnes will probably be stale after her exertions in the Derby.
    8. (finance) out of date, unpaid for an unreasonable amount of time, particularly in reference to checks
      • 1901, Business Terms & Phrases 2nd ed., 199Stale cheque,...a cheque which has remained unpaid for some considerable time.

    Usage notes

    In the third sense regarding food, usually (but not always) pejorative and synonymous with gone bad and turned. In reference to mead, wine, and bread, it can describe an acceptable or desired state (see: crouton). In modern English, however, "stale beer" has been light struck, flat, or oxidized and is to be avoided.

    Synonyms

    Antonyms

    Derived terms

    Noun

    stale

    (plural stales)
    1. (colloquial) Something stale; a loaf of bread &c. that is no longer fresh
      • 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, II iii 39I went to Riggs's batty-cake shop, and asked 'em for a penneth of the cheapest and nicest stales, that were all but blue-mouldy, but not quite.
      • 1937, George Orwell, Road to Wigan Pier, I i 15Frayed-looking sweet-cakes...bought as ‘stales’ from the baker.

    Verb

    1. (alcohol, obsolete, transitive) to make stale; to age in order to clear and strengthen the drink, particularly in reference to beerOxford English Dictionary. "Stale, v. 2".
      • circa 1440, Promp. Parv., 472 1Stalyn, or make stale drynke, defeco.
      • 1826, Art of Brewing 2nd ed., 106A stock of old porter should be kept, sufficient for staling the consumption of twelve months.
    2. (transitive) to make stale; to cause to go out of fashion or currency; to diminish the novelty or interest of, particularly by excessive exposure or consumption
      • 1601, Ben Jonson, Fountaine of Self-love, 36Ile goe tell all the Argument of his Play aforehand, and so stale his Inuention to the Auditory before it come foorth.
      • 1601, Ben Jonson, Every Man in his Humor, I ivNot content To stale himselfe in all societies, He makes my house as common as a Mart.
      • circa 1616, William Shakespeare, Antony & Cleopatra, II ii 241Age cannot wither her, nor custome stale Her infinite variety.
      • 1863, W. W. Story, Roba di Roma, I i 7Pictures and statues have been staled by copy and description.
    3. (intransitive) to become stale; to grow odious from excessive exposure or consumption
      • 1717, E. Erskine, Serm. in Wks., 50 1They have got so much of Christ as to be staled of his company.
      • 1893, "Q", Delectable Duchy, 325Philanthropy was beginning to stale.
    4. (alcohol, intransitive) to become stale; to grow unpleasant from age
      • 1742, W. Ellis, London & Country Brewer, 4th ed., I 64The Drink from that Time flattens and stales.

    Derived terms

    Origin 6

    Probably from uncommon Anglo-Norman estale ("pigeon used to lure hawks"), ultimately from Proto-Germanic, probably *standaną ("to stand"). Cf. Old English stælhrán ("decoy reindeer") and Northumbrian stællo ("catching fish").

    Oxford English Dictionary. "Stale, n. 3" & "v. 5".

    Noun

    stale

    (plural stales)
    1. (falconry, hunting, obsolete) A live bird to lure birds of prey or others of its kind into a trap
      • circa 1440, Promp. Parv., 472 1Stale, of fowlynge or byrdys takynge, stacionaria.
      • 1579, Thomas North, Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, "Sylla", 515Like vnto the fowlers, that by their stales draw other birdes into their nets.
      • 1608, R. Tofte translating Ludovico Ariosto, Satyres, IV 56A wife thats more then faire is like a stale, Or chanting whistle which brings birds to thrall.
    2. (obsolete) Any lure, particularly in reference to people used as live bait.
      • circa 1529, "The Tunning of Elynour Rummyng", 324, in , Certayne BokesShe ran in all the hast
        Vnbrased and vnlast...
        It was a stale to take
        the deuyll in a brake.
      • 1577, Raphael Holinshed, Chronicles, "The Historie of England, from the Time that It Was First Inhabited, Vntill the Time that It Was Last Conquered", 79 2The Britaynes woulde oftentimes...lay their Cattell...in places conueniente, to bee as a stale to the Romaynes, and when the Romaynes shoulde make to them to fetche the same away,...they would fall vpon them.
      • 1579, J. Stubbs, Discouerie Gaping GulfHer daughter Margerit was the stale to lure...them that otherwise flewe hyghe...and could not be gotten.
      • 1615, George Sandys, A Relation of a Iourney begun An: Dom: 1610, I 66...many of the Coffamen keeping beaytifull boyes, who Å¿erue as Å¿tales to procure them cuÅ¿tomers.
      • 1670, J. Eachard, Grounds Contempt of Clergy, 88Six-pence or a shilling to put into the Box, for a stale to decoy in the rest of the Parish.
    3. (crime, obsolete) An accomplice of a thief or criminal acting as bait
      • 1526, W. Bonde, Pylgrimage of Perfection, IIITheir mynisters, be false bretherne or false sustern, stales of the deuyll.
      • 1633, S. Marmion, Fine Compan., III ivThis is Captain Whibble, the Towne stale, For all cheating imployments.
    4. (obsolete) a partner whose beloved abandons or torments him in favor of another
      • 1578, J. Lyly, Euphues, 33I perceiue Lucilla (sayd he) that I was made thy stale, and Philautus thy laughinge stocke.
      • 1588, T. Hughes, Misfortunes Arthur, I ii 3Was I then chose and wedded for his stale?
      • 1611, T. Middleton & al., Roaring GirleDid I for this loose all my friends...to be made A stale to a common whore?
      • circa 1616, William Shakespeare, Comedy of Errors, II i 100But, too vnruly Deere, he breakes the pale And feedes from home; poore I am but his stale.
      • circa 1640, J. Fletcher & al. Little French Lawyer, III ivThis comes of rutting: Are we made stales to one another?
    5. (obsolete) A patsy, a pawn, someone used under some false pretext to forward another's (usu. sinister) designs; a stalking horse
      • 1580, E. Grindal in 1710, J. Strype, Hist. E. Grindal, 252That of the two nominated, one should be an unfit Man, and as it were a Stale, to bring the Office to the other.
      • 1595, William Shakespeare, Part 3, III iii 260Had he none else to make a stale but me?
      • 1614, W. Raleigh, Hist. World, I iv iii §19 239Eurydice...meaning nothing lesse than to let her husband serue as a Stale, keeping the throne warme till another were growne old enough to sit in it.
      • 1711, J. Puckle, Club 20A pretence of kindness is the universal stale to all base projects.
    6. (crime, obsolete) A prostitute of the lowest sort; any wanton woman
      • 1600, William Shakespeare, , II ii 23Spare not to tell him, that he hath wronged his honor in marrying the renowned Claudio...to a contaminated stale.
      • 1606, S. Daniel, Queenes Arcadia, II iBut to be leaft for such a one as she, The stale of all, what will folke thinke of me?
      • circa 1641, Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu, Acts & Monuments, 265...detesting as he said the insatiable impudency of a prostitute Stale.
    7. (hunting, obsolete) Any decoy, either stuffed or manufactured
      • 1681, J. Flavell, Method of Grace, XXXV 588'Tis the living bird that makes the best stale to draw others into the net.
      • 1888, G. M. Fenn, Dick o' the Fens, 53If my live birds aren't all drownded and my stales spoiled.

    Verb

    1. (rare, obsolete, transitive) To serve as a decoy, to lure
      • 1557, Tottel's Misc., 198The eye...Doth serue to stale her here and there where she doth come and go.

    Anagrams

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