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Webster 1913 Edition

Stalk

Stalk

(sta̤k)
,
Noun.
[OE.
stalke
, fr. AS.
stael
,
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 resembles 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 climb by the rungs and the
stalks
.
Chaucer.
5.
(Zool.)
(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
(Zool.)
,
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.

Stalk

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Stalked
(sta̤kt)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Stalking
.]
[AS.
staelcan
,
stealcian
to go slowly; cf.
stealc
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 cover.
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.
Merivale.

Stalk

(sta̤k)
,
Verb.
T.
1.
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.

Stalk

,
Noun.
1.
A high, proud, stately step or walk.
Thus twice before, . . .
With martial
stalk
hath he gone by our watch.
Shakespeare
The which with monstrous
stalk
behind him stepped.
Spenser.

Webster 1828 Edition

Stalk

STALK

,
Noun.
[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

,
Verb.
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

,
Noun.
A high, proud, stately step or walk.

Definition 2024

stalk

stalk

English

Noun

stalk ‎(plural stalks)

  1. The stem or main axis of a plant, which supports the seed-carrying parts.
    a stalk of wheat, rye, or oats;  the stalks of maize or hemp‎
    • 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, Nobody, chapter I:
      Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with […] on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs.
  2. The petiole, pedicel, or peduncle of a plant.
  3. Something resembling the stalk of a plant, such as the stem of a quill.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Grew to this entry?)
  4. (architecture) An ornament in the Corinthian capital resembling the stalk of a plant, from which the volutes and helices spring.
  5. One of the two upright pieces of a ladder.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Chaucer to this entry?)
  6. (zoology)
    1. A stem or peduncle, as in certain barnacles and crinoids.
    2. The narrow basal portion of the abdomen of a hymenopterous insect.
    3. The peduncle of the eyes of decapod crustaceans.
  7. (metalworking) An iron bar with projections inserted in a core to strengthen it; a core arbor.
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English stalken, from Old English *stealcian (as in Old English bestealcian ‎(“to move stealthily”), stealcung ‎(“stalking”)), from Proto-Germanic *stalkōną 'to move stealthily' (compare Dutch stelkeren, stolkeren 'to tip-toe, tread carefully', Danish stalke ‎(“to high step, stalk”), Norwegian dialectal stalka 'to trudge'), from *stalkaz, *stelkaz (compare Old English stealc 'steep', Old Norse stelkr, stjalkr ‎(“knot (bird), red sandpiper”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)telg, *(s)tolg- (compare Middle Irish tolg ‎(“strength”), Lithuanian stalgùs ‎(“stiff, defiant, proud”)).[1]

Alternate etymology connects Proto-Germanic *stalkōną 'to stalk, move stealthily', to a frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *stelaną 'to steal'.

Verb

stalk ‎(third-person singular simple present stalks, present participle stalking, simple past and past participle stalked)

  1. (transitive) To approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer.
    • Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
      As for shooting a man from behind a wall, it is cruelly like to stalking a deer.
    • 1907, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “chapter I”, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:
      But they had already discovered that he could be bullied, and they had it their own way; and presently Selwyn lay prone upon the nursery floor, impersonating a ladrone while pleasant shivers chased themselves over Drina, whom he was stalking.
  2. (transitive) To (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment.Wp
    My ex-boyfriend is stalking me.‎
  3. (intransitive) To walk slowly and cautiously; to walk in a stealthy, noiseless manner.
    • John Dryden (1631-1700)
      [Bertran] stalks close behind her, like a witch's fiend, / Pressing to be employed.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  4. (intransitive) To walk behind something, such as a screen, for the purpose of approaching game; to proceed under cover.
    • Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
      The king […] crept under the shoulder of his led horse; […] "I must stalk," said he.
    • Michael Drayton (1563-1631)
      One underneath his horse, to get a shoot doth stalk.
Translations
Conjugation

Noun

stalk ‎(plural stalks)

  1. A particular episode of trying to follow or contact someone.
  2. A hunt (of a wild animal).
    • Theodore Roosevelt
      When the stalk was over (the antelope took alarm and ran off before I was within rifle shot) I came back.
Related terms

References

  1. ↑ Robert K. Barnhart and Sol Steinmetz, eds., Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, s.v. "stalk2" (New York: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd., 2006), 1057.

Etymology 3

1530, 'to walk haughtily', perhaps from Old English stealc 'steep', from Proto-Germanic *stelkaz, *stalkaz 'high, lofty, steep, stiff'; see above

Verb

stalk ‎(third-person singular simple present stalks, present participle stalking, simple past and past participle stalked)

  1. (intransitive) To walk haughtily.
    • Dryden
      With manly mien he stalked along the ground.
    • Addison
      Then stalking through the deep, / He fords the ocean.
    • Mericale
      I forbear myself from entering the lists in which he has long stalked alone and unchallenged.
Translations

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

stalk

  1. first-person singular present indicative of stalken
  2. imperative of stalken

Etymology

From Middle English stalke, diminutive of stale 'ladder upright, stalk', from Old English stalu 'wooden upright', from Proto-Germanic *stalǭ (compare Middle Low German stal, stale 'chair leg'), variant of *steluz, stelōn 'stalk' (compare Old English stela, Dutch steel, German Stiel, Danish stilk), from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (compare Albanian shtalkë ‎(“crossbeam, board used as a door hinge”), Welsh telm ‎(“frond”), Ancient Greek stélos 'beam', Old Armenian ստեղն ‎(stełn, “trunk, stalk”)).

Pronunciation

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