stale Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb urinate, of cattle and horses
  2. adjective lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age
    • stale bread
    • the beer was stale
  3. adjective satellite lacking originality or spontaneity; no longer new
    dusty; cold; moth-eaten.
    • moth-eaten theories about race
    • stale news

WordNet

Stale noun
Etymology
OE. stale, stele, AS. stæl, stel; akin to LG. & D. steel, G. stiel; cf. L. stilus stake, stalk, stem, Gr. a handle, and E. stall, stalk, n.
Definitions
  1. 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.
Stale adjective
Etymology
Akin to stale urine, and to stall, n.; probably from Low German or Scandinavian. Cf. Stale, v. i.
Definitions
  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 transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Staled ; present participle & verbal noun Staling
Definitions
  1. 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.
Stale intransitive verb
Etymology
Akin to D. & G. stallen, Dan. stalle, Sw. stalla, and E. stall a stable. 163. See Stall, n., and cf. Stale, a.
Definitions
  1. To make water; to discharge urine; -- said especially of horses and cattle. Hudibras.
Stale noun
Etymology
See Stale, a. & v. i.
Definitions
  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.
Stale noun
Etymology
Cf. OF. estal place, position, abode, market, F. étal 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.)
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913