Adjacent Words

Stale definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STALE, a. [I do not find this word in the other Teutonic dialects. It is probably from the root of still, G., to set, and equivalent to stagnant.]
1. Vapid or tasteless from age; having lost its life, spirit and flavor from being long kept; as stale beer.
2. Having lost the life or graces of youth; worn out; decayed; as a stale virgin.
3. Worn out by use; trite; common; having lost its novelty and power of pleasing; as a stale remark.
STALE, n. [G. See Stall.]
1. Something set or offered to view as an allurement to draw others to any place or purpose; a decoy; a stool-fowl.
Still as he went, he crafty stales did lay.
A pretense of kindness is the universal stale to all base projects. [In this sense obsolete.]
2. A prostitute.
3. Old vapid beer.
4. A long handle; as the state of a rake.
5. A word applied to the king in chess when stalled or set; that is, when so situated that he cannot be moved without going into check, by which the game is ended.
STALE, v.t. To make void or useless; to destroy the life, beauty or use of; to wear out.
Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety.
STALE, v.i. [G.] To make water; to discharge urine; as horses and cattle.
STALE, n. Urine; used of horses and cattle.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age; "stale bread"; "the beer was stale" [ant: fresh]
2: lacking originality or spontaneity; no longer new; "moth- eaten theories about race"; "stale news" [syn: cold, stale, dusty, moth-eaten] v
1: urinate, of cattle and horses

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective (staler; stalest) Etymology: Middle English, settled, clear (of ale), not fresh, from Anglo-French estale, probably from Middle Dutch stel old (of beer) Date: 15th century 1. tasteless or unpalatable from age <stale bread> 2. tedious from familiarity <a stale routine> 3. impaired in legal force or effect by reason of being allowed to rest without timely use, action, or demand <a stale affidavit> <a stale debt> 4. impaired in vigor or effectiveness • stalely adverb • staleness noun II. verb (staled; staling) Date: 1599 transitive verb 1. to make stale 2. archaic to make common ; cheapen intransitive verb to become stale III. intransitive verb (staled; staling) Etymology: Middle English; akin to Middle Low German stallen to urinate, stal urine of horses Date: 15th century urinate — used chiefly of camels and horses IV. noun Date: 1548 urine of a domestic animal (as a horse)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. adj. & v. --adj. (staler, stalest) 1 a not fresh, not quite new (stale bread is best for toast). b musty, insipid, or otherwise the worse for age or use. 2 trite or unoriginal (a stale joke; stale news). 3 (of an athlete or other performer) having ability impaired by excessive exertion or practice. 4 Law (esp. of a claim) having been left dormant for an unreasonably long time. --v.tr. & intr. make or become stale. Derivatives: stalely adv. staleness n. Etymology: ME, prob. f. AF & OF f. estaler halt: cf. STALL(1) 2. n. & v. --n. the urine of horses and cattle. --v.intr. (esp. of horses and cattle) urinate. Etymology: ME, perh. f. OF estaler adopt a position (cf. STALE(1))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stale Stale, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Staled; p. pr. & vb. n. Staling.] To make vapid or tasteless; to destroy the life, beauty, or use of; to wear out. Age can not wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stale Stale, n. [OE. stale, stele, AS. st[ae]l, stel; akin to LG. & D. steel, G. stiel; cf. L. stilus stake, stalk, stem, Gr. ? a handle, and E. stall, stalk, n.] The stock or handle of anything; as, the stale of a rake. [Written also steal, stele, etc.] But seeling the arrow's stale without, and that the head did go No further than it might be seen. --Chapman.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stale Stale, a. [Akin to stale urine, and to stall, n.; probably from Low German or Scandinavian. Cf. Stale, v. i.] 1. Vapid or tasteless from age; having lost its life, spirit, and flavor, from being long kept; as, stale beer. 2. Not new; not freshly made; as, stele bread. 3. Having lost the life or graces of youth; worn out; decayed. ``A stale virgin.'' --Spectator. 4. Worn out by use or familiarity; having lost its novelty and power of pleasing; trite; common. --Swift. Wit itself, if stale is less pleasing. --Grew. How weary, stale flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world! --Shak. Stale affidavit (Law), an affidavit held above a year. --Craig. Stale demand (Law), a claim or demand which has not been pressed or demanded for a long time.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stale Stale, v. i. [Akin to D. & G. stallen, Dan. stalle, Sw. stalla, and E. stall a stable. ? 163. See Stall, n., and cf. Stale, a.] To make water; to discharge urine; -- said especially of horses and cattle. --Hudibras.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stale Stale, n. [See Stale, a. & v. i.] 1. That which is stale or worn out by long keeping, or by use. [Obs.] 2. A prostitute. [Obs.] --Shak. 3. Urine, esp. that of beasts. ``Stale of horses.'' --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stale Stale, n. [Cf. OF. estal place, position, abode, market, F. ['e]tal a butcher's stall, OHG. stal station, place, stable, G. stall (see Stall, n.); or from OE. stale theft, AS. stalu (see Steal, v. t.)] 1. Something set, or offered to view, as an allurement to draw others to any place or purpose; a decoy; a stool pigeon. [Obs.] Still, as he went, he crafty stales did lay. --Spenser. 2. A stalking-horse. [Obs.] --B. Jonson. 3. (Chess) A stalemate. [Obs.] --Bacon. 4. A laughingstock; a dupe. [Obs.] --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(staler, stalest) 1. Stale food is no longer fresh or good to eat. Their daily diet consisted of a lump of stale bread, a bowl of rice and stale water. ? fresh ADJ 2. Stale air or a stale smells is unpleasant because it is no longer fresh. A layer of smoke hung low in the stale air. ...the smell of stale sweat. ADJ 3. If you say that a place, an activity, or an idea is stale, you mean that it has become boring because it is always the same. Her relationship with Mark has become stale... ADJ [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Vapid, tasteless, insipid, mawkish, flat, flashy, musty, fusty, sour. 2. Old, decayed, faded, effete, time-worn, worn out. 3. Trite, common, hackneyed, commonplace, threadbare, old, vapid, stereotyped.

Moby Thesaurus

allurement, antiquated, back-number, bait, banal, bewhiskered, blown, boring, bromidic, cliche, cliched, come-on, common, commonplace, corny, crumbling, cut-and-dried, dead, decoy, dilapidated, dilute, diluted, dry, dusty, enticement, fade, familiar, fetid, flat, flavorless, frowy, fusty, gamy, gone off, gone to seed, gruelly, hackney, hackneyed, hand-me-down, hardened, high, inane, indifferent, insipid, jejune, limp, mild, mildewed, milk-and-water, moldering, moldy, moss-grown, moth-eaten, mouldy, musty, noisome, off, old, old hat, old-fashioned, overused, pappy, platitudinous, pulpy, rancid, rank, reechy, reeking, rotten, ruined, ruinous, rusty, sapless, savorless, seducement, set, shopworn, smelly, snare, sour, soured, spiceless, spoiled, square, stenchy, stereotyped, stinking, stock, strong, tainted, tasteless, temptation, thin, threadbare, time-scarred, timeworn, tired, tiresome, trap, trite, truistic, turned, unflavored, unoriginal, unsavory, vapid, warmed-over, washy, watered, watered-down, watery, weak, weary, well-known, well-worn, wilted, wishy-washy, withered, worn, worn thin