English Explanatory Dictionary

stale

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Clear, free of dregs and lees; old and strong.
  2. No longer fresh, in reference to food, urine, straw, wounds, etc.
  3. No longer fresh, new, or interesting, in reference to ideas and immaterial things; clichéd, hackneyed, dated.
  4. No longer nubile or suitable for marriage, in reference to people; past one's prime.
  5. Not new or recent; having been in place or in effect for some time.
  6. Fallow, in reference to land.
  7. Unreasonably long in coming, in reference to claims and actions.
  8. Worn out, particularly due to age or over-exertion, in reference to athletes and animals in competition.
  9. Out of date, unpaid for an unreasonable amount of time, particularly in reference to checks.
  10. Of data: out of date; not synchronized with the newest copy.
noun
  1. Something stale; a loaf of bread or the like that is no longer fresh.
verb
  1. To make stale; to age in order to clear and strengthen (a drink, especially beer).
  2. 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.
  3. To become stale; to grow odious from excessive exposure or consumption.
  4. To become stale; to grow unpleasant from age.
noun
  1. A long, thin handle (of rakes, axes, etc.)
  2. One of the posts or uprights of a ladder.
  3. One of the rungs on a ladder.
  4. The stem of a plant.
  5. The shaft of an arrow, spear, etc.
verb
  1. To make a ladder by joining rungs ("stales") between the posts.
noun
  1. A fixed position, particularly a soldier's in a battle-line.
  2. A stalemate; a stalemated game.
  3. An ambush.
  4. A band of armed men or hunters.
  5. The main force of an army.
adj
  1. At a standstill; stalemated.
verb
  1. To stalemate.
  2. To be stalemated.
noun
  1. Urine, especially used of horses and cattle.
verb
  1. To urinate, especially used of horses and cattle.
noun
  1. A live bird to lure birds of prey or others of its kind into a trap.
  2. Any lure, particularly in reference to people used as live bait.
  3. An accomplice of a thief or criminal acting as bait.
  4. a partner whose beloved abandons or torments him in favor of another.
  5. A patsy, a pawn, someone used under some false pretext to forward another's (usu. sinister) designs; a stalking horse.
  6. A prostitute of the lowest sort; any wanton woman.
  7. Any decoy, either stuffed or manufactured.
verb
  1. To serve as a decoy, to lure.

Pronunciation

stāl /steɪl/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-stale.wav

Word forms

stale staler stalest stales staling staled stele steal steel stail

Etymology

From Middle English stale, from Old French estal (“fixed position, place”), but probably originally from Proto-Germanic *stāną (“to stand”): compare West Flemish stel in the same sense for ‘beer’ and ‘urine’.

Synonyms

fusty gone bad spoiled bad gone off maggoted rotten banal played out trite bathetic bromidic cheesy clichéd commonplace corny dog-eared hackneyed hoary overdone overused overworked pat shopworn stale threadbare timeworn tired warmed-over well-worn matronly past it over the hill elder elderly geriatric gerontologic gerontological long in the tooth matured of a certain age old as Methuselah on in years senior superannuated ivy-covered preserved wintry antediluvian eldern venerable ancient aged age-old auld cobwebbed cobwebby decrepit eld gamol

Antonyms

fresh

Related words

go stale stale drunk stalk piss like a racehorse

Derived words

nonstale overstale stale-dated stale drunk stale-grown stalely stale-mouthed staleness stale read stale-smelling stale-worn stool pigeon unstale antistaling unstaled unstaling rakestale flying stale hold one's stale in stale blood-stale stale-foul to have a rod in stale

Translations

Albanian: bajat Azerbaijani: bayat Bulgarian: баят Catalan: passat Catalan: ranci Catalan: florit Chinese Mandarin: 陳腐 /陈腐 Dutch: oud Dutch: oudbakken Dutch: vervallen Dutch: brak Dutch: muf Dutch: verschaald Esperanto: malfreŝa Finnish: väljähtänyt Finnish: ummehtunut Finnish: vanhentunut French: rassis French: avarié Galician: reseso Galician: resésego Galician: falmaguento Galician: manido Galician: pasado Galician: choco German: abgestanden German: schal German: altbacken German: fade Greek: μπαγιάτικος Greek: στάσιμος Ancient Greek: ἕωλος Hungarian: állott Hungarian: áporodott Hungarian: poshadt Icelandic: staðinn Indonesian: basi Italian: raffermo Italian: ammuffito Italian: avariato Italian: rancido Japanese: 古い Khmer: ចាស់ Ladino: bayat Malay: basi Norman: raccourchi Norman: mouaîsi Old English: ealdbacen Persian: بیات Polish: czerstwy Portuguese: parado Portuguese: estagnado Portuguese: rançoso Portuguese: seco Portuguese: velho Russian: несве́жий Russian: чёрствый Russian: за́тхлый Spanish: duro Spanish: revenido Spanish: pasado Spanish: rancio Spanish: viciado Spanish: alaste Spanish: correoso Spanish: endurecido Spanish: viejo Spanish: acorchado Spanish: melcochudo Spanish: melcochoso Swedish: avslagen Swedish: däven Tày: bốt Tày: mên bốt Tày: bút Telugu: పాచిన Telugu: వాడిన Telugu: వడలిన Turkish: bayat Vietnamese: thiu Vietnamese: ôi Walloon: passé Walloon: avancî Walloon: suri
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