Adjacent Words

Stalk definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STALK, n. [G., a handle, and a stalk or stem. Gr. from the root of stall; to set.]
1. The stem, culm or main body of an herbaceous plant. Thus we speak of a stalk of wheat, rye or oats, the stalks of maiz or hemp. The stalk of herbaceous plants, answers to the stem of shrubs and tress, and denotes that which is set, the fixed part of a plant, its support; or it is a shoot.
2. The pedicle of a flower, or the peduncle that supports the fructification of a plant.
3. The stem of a quill.
STALK, v.i.
1. To walk with high and proud steps; usually implying the affectation of dignity, and hence the word usually expresses dislike. The poets however use the word to express dignity of step.
With manly mein he stalkd along the ground.
Then stalking through the deep he fords the ocean.
2. It is used with some insinuation of contempt or abhorrence.
Stalks close behind her, like a witchs fiend, pressing to be employd.
Tis not to stalk about and draw fresh air from time to time.
3. To walk behind a stalking horse or behind a cover.
The king crept under the shoulder of his led horse, and said, I must stalk.
STALK, n. A high, proud, stately step or walk.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds [syn: chaff, husk, shuck, stalk, straw, stubble]
2: a slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ [syn: stalk, stem]
3: a hunt for game carried on by following it stealthily or waiting in ambush [syn: stalk, stalking, still hunt]
4: the act of following prey stealthily [syn: stalk, stalking]
5: a stiff or threatening gait [syn: stalk, angry walk] v
1: walk stiffly
2: follow stealthily or recur constantly and spontaneously to; "her ex-boyfriend stalked her"; "the ghost of her mother haunted her" [syn: haunt, stalk]
3: go through (an area) in search of prey; "stalk the woods for deer"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English stalke; akin to Old English stela stalk, support Date: 14th century 1. a slender upright object or supporting or connecting part; especially peduncle 2. a. the main stem of an herbaceous plant often with its dependent parts b. a part of a plant (as a petiole or stipe) that supports another • stalked adjective • stalkless adjective • stalky adjective II. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Old English bestealcian; akin to Old English stelan to steal — more at steal Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. to pursue quarry or prey stealthily 2. to walk stiffly or haughtily transitive verb 1. to pursue by stalking 2. to go through (an area) in search of prey or quarry <stalk the woods for deer> 3. to pursue obsessively and to the point of harassment • stalker noun III. noun Date: 14th century 1. the act of stalking 2. a stalking gait

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 the main stem of a herbaceous plant. 2 the slender attachment or support of a leaf, flower, fruit, etc. 3 a similar support for an organ etc. in an animal. 4 a slender support or linking shaft in a machine, object, etc., e.g. the stem of a wineglass. 5 the tall chimney of a factory etc. Phrases and idioms: stalk-eyed (of crabs, snails, etc.) having the eyes mounted on stalks. Derivatives: stalked adj. (also in comb.). stalkless adj. stalklet n. stalklike adj. stalky adj. Etymology: ME stalke, prob. dimin. of (now dial.) stale rung of a ladder, long handle, f. OE stalu 2. v. & n. --v. 1 a tr. pursue or approach (game or an enemy) stealthily. b intr. steal up to game under cover. 2 intr. stride, walk in a stately or haughty manner. --n. 1 the stalking of game. 2 an imposing gait. Phrases and idioms: stalking-horse 1 a horse behind which a hunter is concealed. 2 a pretext concealing one's real intentions or actions. Derivatives: stalker n. (also in comb.). Etymology: OE f. Gmc, rel. to STEAL

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stalk Stalk, n. The act or process of stalking. When the stalk was over (the antelope took alarm and ran off before I was within rifle shot) I came back. --T. Roosevelt.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stalk Stalk, v. t. To approach under cover of a screen, or by stealth, for the purpose of killing, as game. As for shooting a man from behind a wall, it is cruelly like to stalking a deer. --Sir W. Scott.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stalk Stalk, n. A high, proud, stately step or walk. Thus twice before, . . . With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch. --Shak. The which with monstrous stalk behind him stepped. --Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stalk Stalk, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Stalked; p. pr. & vb. n. Stalking.] [AS. st[ae]lcan, stealcian to go slowly; cf. stels high, elevated, Dan. stalke to stalk; probably akin to 1st stalk.] 1. To walk slowly and cautiously; to walk in a stealthy, noiseless manner; -- sometimes used with a reflexive pronoun. --Shak. Into the chamber he stalked him full still. --Chaucer. [Bertran] stalks close behind her, like a witch's fiend, Pressing to be employed. --Dryden. 2. To walk behind something as a screen, for the purpose of approaching game; to proceed under clover. The king . . . crept under the shoulder of his led horse; . . . ``I must stalk,'' said he. --Bacon. One underneath his horse, to get a shoot doth stalk. --Drayton. 3. To walk with high and proud steps; usually implying the affectation of dignity, and indicating dislike. The word is used, however, especially by the poets, to express dignity of step. With manly mien he stalked along the ground. --Dryden. Then stalking through the deep, He fords the ocean. --Addison. I forbear myself from entering the lists in which he has long stalked alone and unchallenged. --Mericale.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stalk Stalk, n. [OE. stalke, fr. AS. st[ae]l, stel, a stalk. See Stale a handle, Stall.] 1. (Bot.) (a) The stem or main axis of a plant; as, a stalk of wheat, rye, or oats; the stalks of maize or hemp. (b) The petiole, pedicel, or peduncle, of a plant. 2. That which resembes the stalk of a plant, as the stem of a quill. --Grew. 3. (Arch.) An ornament in the Corinthian capital resembling the stalk of a plant, from which the volutes and helices spring. 4. One of the two upright pieces of a ladder. [Obs.] To climd by the rungs and the stalks. --Chaucer. 5. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A stem or peduncle, as of certain barnacles and crinoids. (b) The narrow basal portion of the abdomen of a hymenopterous insect. (c) The peduncle of the eyes of decapod crustaceans. 6. (Founding) An iron bar with projections inserted in a core to strengthen it; a core arbor. Stalk borer (Zo["o]l.), the larva of a noctuid moth (Gortyna nitela), which bores in the stalks of the raspberry, strawberry, tomato, asters, and many other garden plants, often doing much injury.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(stalks, stalking, stalked) 1. The stalk of a flower, leaf, or fruit is the thin part that joins it to the plant or tree. A single pale blue flower grows up from each joint on a long stalk. ...corn stalks. = stem N-COUNT: usu with supp 2. If you stalk a person or a wild animal, you follow them quietly in order to kill them, catch them, or observe them carefully. He stalks his victims like a hunter after a deer. = track VERB: V n 3. If someone stalks someone else, especially a famous person or a person they used to have a relationship with, they keep following them or contacting them in an annoying and frightening way. Even after their divorce he continued to stalk and threaten her. VERB: V n • stalking The Home Secretary is considering a new law against stalking. 4. If you stalk somewhere, you walk there in a stiff, proud, or angry way. If his patience is tried at meetings he has been known to stalk out. VERB: V adv/prep

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

stok: In Ge 41:5,22 is for qaneh, "cane"; in Jos 2:6 for ets, "wood." In Ho 8:7, the Revised Version margin has "stalk" for qamah, "that which stands." The Revised Version's "standing grain" is due to this meaning of qamah in Ex 22:6, etc., but this translation spoils the figure. The meaning is, "They sow the wind, a worthless sowing, for such seed produces no stalk, it yields no grain."

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. 1. Walk (stealthily). 2. Stride, strut, pace, march. II. n. Stem, petiole, pedicel, peduncle, culm, spire.

Moby Thesaurus

Maypole, amble, anthrophore, axis, baluster, balustrade, banister, bar, barge, base, beat, bole, bowl along, bundle, campaign, cane, carpophore, caryatid, caudex, caulicle, caulis, chase, circuit, clump, colonnade, column, couch, course, creep, culm, dado, die, dog, domiciliary visit, drag, dragnet, drive, droop, excursion, expedition, exploration, falcon, flagstaff, flounce, flush, follow, follow a clue, follow the hounds, follow up, foot, footslog, footstalk, forage, fowl, frisk, funicule, funiculus, gait, gallop, go hunting, grand tour, gumshoe, gun, halt, haulm, haunt, hawk, hippety-hop, hitch, hobble, hop, hound, house-search, hunt, hunt down, hunting, jack, jacklight, jaunt, jog, jolt, journey, jump, junket, lay wait, leafstalk, lie in wait, limp, lock step, lumber, lunge, lurch, lurk, mince, mincing steps, newel-post, nightwalk, nose, nose out, outing, pace, package tour, paddle, peacock, pedestal, pedicel, peduncle, peg, peregrination, perquisition, petiole, petiolule, petiolus, piaffe, piaffer, pier, pilaster, pile, pilgrimage, piling, pillar, pleasure trip, plinth, plod, pole, posse, post, prance, probe, progress, prowl, prowl after, pursue, pussyfoot, queen-post, quest, rack, ransacking, reed, ride to hounds, rod, roll, round trip, rubberneck tour, rummage, run, run down, run to earth, safari, sally, sashay, saunter, scape, scuff, scuffle, scuttle, search, search party, search warrant, search-and-destroy operation, searching, seedstalk, shadow, shaft, shamble, shikar, shoot, shuffle, sidle, single-foot, skip, skulk, slink, slither, slog, slouch, slowness, smell out, sneak, sniff out, socle, spear, spike, spire, sport, staff, stagger, stalking, stamp, stanchion, stand, standard, start, steal, stem, step, stick, still hunt, still-hunt, stipe, stock, stomp, straddle, straggle, straw, stride, stroll, strolling gait, strut, stump, subbase, surbase, swagger, swank, swash, swashbuckle, swing, tail, tigella, tiptoe, tittup, toddle, tongue, totem pole, totter, tour, trace, trace down, track, track down, trail, traipse, tread, trek, trip, trot, trudge, trunk, turn, turning over, upright, velocity, voyage, waddle, walk, wamble, wiggle, wobble