stale

Meanings

Adjective

• Clear, free of dregs and lees; old and strong.
• No longer fresh, in reference to food, urine, straw, wounds, etc.
• No longer fresh, new, or interesting, in reference to ideas and immaterial things; cliche, hackneyed, dated.
• No longer nubile or suitable for marriage, in reference to people; past one's prime.
• Fallow, in reference to land.
• Unreasonably long in coming, in reference to claims and actions.
• Taking a long time to change
• Worn out, particularly due to age or over-exertion, in reference to athletes and animals in competition.
• Out of date, unpaid for an unreasonable amount of time, particularly in reference to checks.
• Of data: out of date; not synchronized with the newest copy.
• At a standstill; stalemated.

Noun

• Something stale; a loaf of bread or the like that is no longer fresh.
• A long, thin handle (of rakes, axes, etc.)
• The posts and rungs composing a ladder.
• The stem of a plant.
• The shaft of an arrow, spear, etc.
• A fixed position, particularly a soldier's in a battle-line.
• A stalemate; a stalemated game.
• An ambush.
• A band of armed men or hunters.
• The main force of an army.
• Urine, especially used of horses and cattle.
• A live bird to lure birds of prey or others of its kind into a trap.
• Any lure, particularly in reference to people used as live bait.
• An accomplice of a thief or criminal acting as bait.
• a partner whose beloved abandons or torments him in favor of another.
• A patsy, a pawn, someone used under some false pretext to forward another's (usu. sinister) designs; a stalking horse.
• A prostitute of the lowest sort; any wanton woman.
• Any decoy, either stuffed or manufactured.

Verb

• To make stale; to age in order to clear and strengthen (a drink, especially beer).
• 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.
• To become stale; to grow odious from excessive exposure or consumption.
• To become stale; to grow unpleasant from age.
• To make a ladder by joining rungs ("stales") between the posts.
• To stalemate.
• To be stalemated.
• To urinate, especially used of horses and cattle.
• To serve as a decoy, to lure.

Related

Similar words

• handle
• haft
• helve
• shaft (body of arrows, spears, etc.)
• snath, the shaft of a scythe
• stem

Opposite words

• fresh

Origin

• From Middle English stale, of uncertain etymology, but probably originally from Proto-Germanic *stāną: compare West Flemish stel in the same sense for ‘beer’ and ‘urine’.
• From Middle English stale, from Old English stalu, from Proto-Germanic *stal-. The development was paralleled by the ablaut which became steal, from Middle English stele, from Old English stela, from Proto-Germanic *stel-. The latter also produced Ancient Greek στελεός and Latin stēla, which became stele and stela.
• From Middle English stale, from Old French estal ("place, something placed") (compare French étal), from Frankish, from Proto-Germanic *stallaz, earlier *staþlaz. Related to stall and stand.
• Noun from Middle English stale, from Anglo-Norman estal. Verb from Middle English stalen, from Old French estaler, related to Middle High German stallen ("to piss").
• From Middle English stale, probably from uncommon Anglo-Norman estale ("pigeon used to lure hawks"), ultimately from Proto-Germanic, probably *standaną. Compare Old English stælhran ("decoy reindeer") and Northumbrian stællo.