Stall

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /stɔːl/
• Rhymes: -ɔːl
• US IPA: /stÉ”l/
• cot-caught IPA: /stÉ‘l/

Old English steall ("standing place, position"). Compare Dutch stal ("cattle shed"), German Stall ("cattle shed"), Old Norse stallr. Cognate with stand.

Full definition of stall

Noun

1. (countable) A compartment for a single animal in a stable or cattle shed.
2. A stable; a place for cattle.
• DrydenAt last he found a stall where oxen stood.
3. A bench or table on which small articles of merchandise are exposed for sale.
• John Gayhow peddlers' stalls with glittering toys are laid
4. (countable) A small open-fronted shop, for example in a market.
• 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, , Chapter I,He looked in vain into the stalls for the butcher who had sold fresh meat twice a week, on market days...
5. A very small room used for a shower or a toilet.
• unknown date John Updike, Rabbit at Rest,Rabbit eases from the king-size bed, goes into their bathroom with its rose-colored one-piece Fiberglas tub and shower stall, and urinates into the toilet of a matching rose porcelain.
6. (countable) A seat in a theatre close to and (about) level with the stage; traditionally, a seat with arms, or otherwise partly enclosed, as distinguished from the benches, sofas, etc.
7. (aeronautics) Loss of lift due to an airfoil's critical angle of attack being exceeded.
8. (paganism and Heathenry) An Heathen altar, typically an indoor one, as contrasted with a more substantial outdoor harrow.
• 1989, Edred Thorsson, A Book of Troth Chapter , In a private rite, a ring is drawn on the ground around a harrow or before an indoor stall.
• 2006, Selene Silverwind, Everything you need to know about Paganism Chapter Asatruar Tools and Practices, Some Asatruar kindreds call their indoor altars stalls and their outdoor altars harrows.
• 2006, Mark Puryear, The Nature of Asatru: An Overview of the Ideals and Philosophy of the Indigenous Religion of Northern Europe, Stalli (STAL-i) - Altar.
9. A seat in a church, especially one next to the chancel or choir, reserved for church officials and dignitaries.
10. A church office that entitles the incumbent to the use of a church stall.
• 1910 1840, Alexandre Dumas, translator not mentioned, , P. F. Collier edition,When he had been some months installed there as a priest-in-charge, he received a prebendal stall, thanks to the same patrons, in the collegiate church of Sainte-Croix.
11. A sheath to protect the finger.
12. (mining) The space left by excavation between pillars.

Related terms

• stall-fed
• orchestra stalls

Verb

1. (transitive) To put (an animal etc) in a stall.to stall an ox
• Drydenwhere King Latinus then his oxen stalled
2. To fatten.to stall cattle
3. (intransitive) To come to a standstill.
4. To plunge into mire or snow so as not to be able to get on; to set; to fix.to stall a cart
• E. E. HaleHis horses had been stalled in the snow.
5. (intransitive, aeronautics) To exceed the critical angle of attack, resulting in total loss of lift.
6. (obsolete) To live in, or as if in, a stall; to dwell.
• ShakespeareWe could not stall together
  In the whole world.
7. (obsolete) To be stuck, as in mire or snow; to stick fast.
8. (obsolete) To be tired of eating, as cattle.
9. To place in an office with the customary formalities; to install.
10. To forestall; to anticipate.
• Massingernot to be stall'd by my report
11. To keep close; to keep secret.
• ShakespeareStall this in your bosom.

Noun

1. An action that is intended to cause or actually causes delay.His encounters with security, reception, the secretary, and the assistant were all stalls until the general manager's attorney arrived.

Verb

1. (transitive) To employ delaying tactics againstHe stalled the creditors as long as he could.
2. (intransitive) To employ delaying tacticsSoon it became clear that she was stalling to give him time to get away.