▪ I. stall, n.1
(stɔːl)
Forms: 1 steall, steal, stal, 3–7 stal, stalle, 3 steal, 3–4 stel, 4–6 stale, (5 stayle, stawll), 6 staull, stawle, stawyll, 6–7 staule, 7 staul, 6–9 Sc. staw, 3– stall.
[Com. Teut. (wanting in Gothic): OE. steall masc. standing, state, place, stall for cattle, corresponds to OFris. stal (WFris. stâl, NFris. stal, staal), MDu., mod.Du. stal masc., MLG. stal masc., neut. stall for cattle, OHG., MHG. stal masc., neut. place, dwelling, stall for cattle (mod.G. stall masc.), ON. stall-r masc. supporting block or slab, pedestal, stall for horse (MSw. stalder, Sw. stall, Da. stald stable):—OTeut. stallo-. The word passed into Romanic: It. stallo place, stalla stable, OF. estal place, position, stall for merchandise, etc. (mod.F. étal butcher's stall). Several of the English senses were probably adopted from Anglo-French, but this is not absolutely certain.
The OTeut. *stallo-, according to the now prevailing view, represents an older *stađlo-, f. root *sta- to stand. The pre-Teut. form of the suffix may have been either -dhlo- or -tlo-; on the former supposition the word would correspond formally to L. stabulum stable n.; on the latter it would be a variant of *staþlo- staddle n.]
† 1. gen. Standing-place, place, position; place in a series, degree of rank; in OE. occas. state, condition. Obs.
in stead and stall (? corruptly in street and stall), everywhere, continually (see stead n.).
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 150 Carceres, horsa steal. 1042, c 1220 [see stead n.]. c 1200 Ormin 2145 Þatt stannt wiþþ hire sune i stall þær heȝhesst iss inn heoffne. Ibid. 11854 To beon abufenn oþre menn I stalless & i sætess. c 1230 Hali Meid. 6 Of se swiðe heh stal, of se muche dignete,..as hit is to beo godes spuse. a 1240 Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 263 Ha liuieð ..euer mare in a steal in al þat eauer god is. a 1300 Cursor M. 396 In þe ouermast element of all; þer þe fir he has his stall. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 695 Als he was stoken in that stall, He herd byhind him, in a wall, A dor opend. c 1450 Robin Hood & Monk lxxxix. in Child Ballads III. 101/2 Robyn Hode is euer bond to hym, Bothe in strete and stalle. c 1460 Towneley Myst. ii. 375 In hell I wote mon be my stall. 1481 Caxton Godfrey Prol. (1893) 3 The noble Godefroy of Boloyne whiche..was stalled in the thyrde stalle of the moost worthy of Cristen men. a 1618 Sylvester tr. Panaretus 1306 He found her out in a hot-humid Cell... The Angell..Made little stay in this unholesome Stall. |
† 2. Phrases.
a. [
Cf. OF. phrases with
estal: see Godefr.]
to bring to stall: to bring to a stand, to fix, settle.
to hold one's stall: to stand firm, keep one's position.
to make, take, etc., stall,
to keep at stall: to make a stand, take up a position, stop.
to take (a tree) to stall: to take up one's position (there).
Obs.| c 1205 Lay. 1671 Þa Freinsce weoren isturmede & noðelas he stal makeden. Ibid. 21294 Whar Colgrim at-stod & æc stal wrohte. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 5077 For eche man tok a tre to stal, As tristi as a castel wal. Ibid. 14144 Temese & Londone he passed al, At Wynchestre þer tok he stal. 1338 ― Chron. (1725) 146 Now has he brought to stalle, his lond stabled redy. Ibid. 156, I salle bring him to stalle, bot he mak me acquitance. c 1450 Merlin xviii. 286 Gaheries with his warde..kepte at stall a longe while, but in the fyn he mote yeve grounde a litill. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. lxxxi. 42 b/2 Y⊇ englysshmen drewe sagely to y⊇ dykes, and ther made a stall tyll all their men wer in sauegard. |
† b. [Perh. a distinct word (?
OE. stæl):
cf. OE. on nánum stale béon to be no help (to), ælfred
Orosius v. ix.]
to stand (much, great, etc.) stall,
to stand much in stall: to afford great help, be of use or service (
const. dat. of person).
Obs.| c 1250 Owl & Night. 1632 Ah þu neuer mon to gode Lyues ne deþes stal ne stode. a 1272 Luue Ron 200 in O.E. Misc. 99 Hwo so cuþe hit to þan ende hit wolde him stonde muchel stel. 13.. K. Alis. 2748 (Laud MS.), It was no wonder gret stal he stood Amonge hem alle was non so good. c 1315 Shoreham Poems i. 746 Þe bone þat swych prest þer byȝt No stel ne schel hym stonde. 1399 Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 365 The bag is ful of roton corne, So long ykep, hit is forlorne, hit wille stonde no stalle. c 1420 Sir Amadace (Camden) xxxix, A mon that hase alle way bynne kynde, Sum curtas mon ȝette may he fynde, That mekille may stonde in stalle. c 1440 Ps. Penit. (1894) 22 Envye and wrathe of herte..Schul stonde a man yn lytul stal, Whan he is clothed yn a clowt, To wone withynne a wormes wal. |
3. a. [
Cf. mod.F.
stalle.] A standing-place for horses or cattle; a stable or cattle-shed; also each division for the accommodation of one animal in a stable, cattle-shed or cow-house; also, a manger.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) S 512 Stabulum, stal. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 113 On [stride he makede] of heuene into þe maidenes inneðe, Oðer þenne in to þe stalle. c 1250 Owl & Night. 629 Vor hors a stable & oxe a stalle. c 1300 K. Alis. 1885 For Alisaundre..Heom to sakyn heo gon calle, So bocher the hog in stalle. c 1390 Chaucer Truth 18 Forþe, pylgryme, forþe, forþe beste out of þi stal. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 447 His stede was sone stabillede, and lede to þe stalle. c 1440 Ps. Penit. (1894) 27 But seth thi flesch lord was perceyved, Ther hit was leid ful streit yn stalle Was ther no synful man deceyued That wolde to thy mercy calle. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 472/1 Stalle, of beestys stondynge, boscar, presepe. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxi. 33 Great court horss puttis me fra the staw, To fang the fog be firthe and fald. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 360, I haue..Sixe-score fat Oxen standing in my stalls. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xiv. 156 Then fed he here, Eleuen faire stalles of Goats. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 331 The youthful Bull must wander in the Wood; Or, in the Stall at home his Fodder find. 1782 Phil. Trans. LXXII. 370 At the west end is a stall for one horse. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. I. i. 23 The art of fatting cattle in the stall was imperfectly understood. 1870 Rossetti Poems, Stratton Water ix, The Kine were in the byre that day, The nags were in the stall. |
| fig. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster iii. i. 114 This tyrannie Is strange, to take mine eares vp by commission, (Whether I will or no) and make them stalls To his lewd solœcismes, and worded trash. |
b. transf. U.S. (See
quot.)
| 1890 T. M. Cooley's Railw. Amer. 232 The earlier locomotives, like horses, were given proper names..; the compartments in the round-houses for sheltering locomotives are termed stalls. |
c. A parking space for a motor vehicle,
usu. marked out but not partitioned off.
U.S.| 1940 College Topics (Univ. of Virginia) 4 Nov., These stalls will be painted to facilitate parking and a time limit of one hour has been ordered for both sides of the street in this area between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. 1955 J. H. Schmitz in Aldiss & Harrison Decade the 1950s (1976) 17 Cord hurriedly flew the skipboat round the station and rolled it back into its stall. 1976 C. Weston Rouse Demon (1977) xxiii. 110 Her car was in its stall in the subterranean garage. |
d. One of a series of urinals separated by divisions, in a men's lavatory; also, a compartment in a wash-room. Also
urinal stall,
toilet stall.
| 1967 Gloss. Sanitation Terms (B.S.I.) 58 Stall urinal, a urinal having a back curved on plan to form a stall for the user... When stall urinals are fixed in ranges, divisions or cloaking pieces are provided between each stall. 1969 C. Logue New Numbers (1971) 62 Mechanical faucets drench a line of porcelain stalls. 1977 P. D. James Death of Expert Witness ii. vii. 90 The male washroom, apart from the urinal stalls, differed very little from the women's. 1978 R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant xxiii. 265 If they let the weapon through, he was to reassemble it immediately, in the toilet stall of a men's room. |
† 4. a. [So
OF. estal.] A seat of office or dignity.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 8582 Þar was he sett in king stall. 1399 Gower Praise of Peace 383 Sette ek the righful Pope uppon his stalle. 14.. Sir Beues (C.) 1283 He broght hym yn to the halle And set hym at mete yn knyȝtes stalle. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 663 He was set in the sure stall, stable throne, and vnmoveable Chayre of the crowne of his realme. 1638 W. Lisle Heliodorus x. 167 Persina [the Queen]..(rising from her stall) Entreats the King. |
| fig. a 1586 Sidney Astroph. & Stella lxxx, Sweet-swelling lip,..Nature's praise, Vertue's stall; Cupid's cold fire, Whence words, not words but heav'nly graces slide. |
† b. Assigned quarters, privilege of residence (in an almshouse).
Obs.| 1595 in Maitl. Club Misc. (1833) I. 75 That gif evir heireafter David Moreson or Johnne Wilsoun sall injure be wordis Sir Bartilmo Simsone [the Master], thay salbe deposed fra thair stallis in the almoushous of Glasgw. |
5. a. [
Cf. med.L.
stallus,
stallum,
stalla,
OF. estal(e,
mod.F.
stalle.] A fixed seat enclosed, either wholly or partially, at the back and sides,
esp. each of a row of seats in the choir of a church for the use of the clergy or religious, and, in a chapter-house, for the canons; also, each of the seats appropriated to knights of the higher orders of chivalry (
e.g. the Knights of the Garter in
St. George's Chapel, Windsor, the Knights of the Bath in Henry VII's Chapel, Westminster). Hence
occas. the office, status, dignity or emolument connected with the occupancy of a (cathedral) stall; a canonry or the like.
| a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 4543 Þe kirke of cupido is clenly a-rayed. Þe stallis & in all stedis strowid with Rose. c 1400 Vesp. Ritual Ord. Nuns in Rule St. Benet 145 Att þe bygynnyng of þe mese þe madyn þat salbe mayde nun sal sit in þe quere a-pon a stole be-for þe priores stayle. c 1450 in Maitl. Club Misc. III. 201 Item ane salter befor the Licentiatis stal strenyeit. 1522 [see stallation]. 1556 Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 61 In the qwere in the byshoppes stalle that he was wonte to be stallyd in. 1571 Grindal Injunct. B ij b, Where the Churches are very small, it shall suffise that the Minister stande in his accustomed stall in the Queere. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 269 He was made Canon or Prebendary of the twelfth and last Stall in the collegiate Ch. at Westminster. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 84 The stalls of the monks in the choir are admirably carved. 1781 Cowper Truth 120 Though plac'd in golden Durham's second stall. 1788 New Lond. Mag. May 279/2 The eleven vacant stalls of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath. 1842 Tennyson Galahad 31, I hear a voice, but none are there; The stalls are void, the doors are wide, The tapers burning fair. 1873 Dixon Two Queens xix. ii. IV. 11 But Wolsey was not satisfied..with six prebendary stalls. |
b. A long seat or doorless pew in a church; also a ‘sitting’.
| 1580 Churchw. Acc. Pittington, etc. (Surtees) 119 Item of John Carter for a staule for himselfe, iiij d. 1584 Ibid. 15 Item for George Tayler, James Huntlye, John Wilkinson, and Jarrat Swalwell, the shorte stall on the north side of the quere doore. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) III. lxiii. 366, I have not been at church a great while; we shall sit in different stalls. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 355 Stall; a doorless pew of a church. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches iii. 28 Of the pews. Note. I am quite aware that this word is dreadfully ‘incorrect’... The ‘correct’ word is stalls, but unfortunately nave seats never are stalls. |
c. [? After F.
stalle,
It. stallo.] Each of the chair-like seats arranged in rows in front of the pit in a theatre; also each of the corresponding seats in other places of entertainment.
| 1828 in Sala's Jrnl. (1892) 30 Apr. 22 An orchestra has been constructed [at the Lyceum]; that is, a separation of the best part of the pit to the extent of about one-third; each row divided into ‘stalls’ or single seats at half-a-guinea each. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxii, From our places in the stalls we could see our four friends..in the loge. 1892 Kipling Barrack-room Ballads, Tommy 12 They sent me to the gallery, or round the music-'alls, But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls! 1901 Trowbridge Lett. her Mother to Eliz. xviii. 89 The boxes were empty, and only a few of the orchestra stalls were taken. |
d. transf. pl. Those who occupy the stalls in a theatre.
| 1901 G. B. Shaw Three Plays for Puritans Pref. p. viii, English influence on the theatre, as far as the stalls are concerned, does not exist. 1920 Daily Mail 17 Sept. 4/5 ‘I wonder whether we shall ever get our ‘stalls’ back,’ a West End box-office manager remarked to me; the ‘stalls’ in the front-of-the-house vernacular signifying a particular class of playgoer. 1927 Sunday Express 10 Apr. 5/4 ‘Why should the stalls stand to oblige the pit?’ asked a satellite near me. |
6. a. [
Cf. OF. estal (
mod.F.
étal), Flemish
stal.] A bench, table, board or the like,
esp. one in front of a shop, upon which goods are exposed for sale; a booth or covered stand for the sale of wares at a market, fair, or in the open street; a stand at a Fancy Fair.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvi. 128 And knokked on hem with a corde and caste adown her stalles. a 1400 in Engl. Gilds (1870) 353 Also, no wollemongere, ne no man, ne may habbe no stal in þe heye-stret..bote he do war-fore. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1580 There were stallis by þe strete stondyng for peopull, Werkmen into won, and þaire wares shewe. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 412 Iohn Curcy of Oxenford yaf..to hugh hore of Oxenford, mercer, a selde, with the stalle afore and a Celer vndir. 1581 Fulke in Confer. iii. (1584) X iiij, I heard you at Garbranges staule in Oxenforde aske for Irenæus Epistles. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 49 All these together in one heape were throwne, Like carkases of beasts in butchers stall. 1592 Arden of Feversham ii. ii, Prentise. Tis very late; I were best shute vp my stall. 1644 Digby Nat. Bodies xix. (1658) 209, I have oftentimes seen in a Mercers shop, a great heap of massie gold lace lie upon their stall. 1714 Gay Sheph. Week, Saturday 73 How pedlar's stalls with glitt'ring toys are laid, The various fairings of the country maid. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 124 The pocket-books were lost, but seven of them a friend of Vertue's met with on a stall, bought, and lent to him. 1822 Scott Nigel xiv, Though I was bred at a flesher's stall, I have not through my life had a constant intimacy with collops. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxvii, She is always having stalls at Fancy Fairs for the benefit of these hapless beings. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman v. i, The market-place was covered with the carts and stalls of the country people. |
| ? Proverbial phrase. 1697 Verdicts conc. Virgil & Homer i. 1 Sublime Notions,..which are not to be found in every Stall, are the Paterns to be imploy'd there [i.e. in an Heroic Poem]. |
† b. The booth or shed to shelter a cobbler at his work.
Obs.| 1692 R. L'Estrange Fables ii. cccci. 376 A Cobler turn'd Doctor,..What was it but the Brazen Face of the Quack..that Advanc'd this Upstart from the Stall to the Stage? 1760–2 Goldsm. Cit. W. lxv, A poor cobbler sat in his stall by the way-side. |
† 7. A stand for a cask. (
Cf. stallage 2 b,
stell n.)
| 1538 in Archæologia XLIII. 226 The Buttery..j bread huche; j stalle to ley drynke on. 1630 Maldon (Essex) Docum. Bundle 217 No. 22, In the buttery, i beer stalle. |
8. Applied to a sheath or receptacle of various kinds.
a. Each of the several compartments or sheaths for the fingers in a glove.
| 1483– [cf. finger-stall]. 1568 Jacob & Esau iv. viii, [Rebecca to Jacob] I haue brought sleues of kid... They be made glouelike, and for eche finger a stall. |
† b. hammer stall: see
quots. Obs.| 1802 C. James Milit. Dict. s.v. Stall, Hammer stall, a piece of leather, which is made to cover the upper part of the lock belonging to a musquet. It is useful in wet weather. 1876 J. Grant Hist. India I. lxv. 332/2 They had French firelocks, with a leather cover for the lock, known then, in our service, as a ‘hammer-stall’. |
c. Each of a set of cases for holding cartridges, attached to a tunic or waistcoat.
| 1906 Advt., Automatic Stall Cartridge Holder... Each stall holds three cartridges, and the usual number of stalls on a coat or waistcoat is eight. |
† 9. Each of a series of ‘screen’ book-cases set at right angles to the walls of a library, each pair forming a bay or an alcove.
Obs.| 1709 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 318 All y⊇ Inner Part of y⊇ Library [of Exeter College] was quite destroy'd [by fire] & only one stall of Books or thereabouts secur'd. 1886 Willis & Clark Cambridge II. 97 The Library..had seven ‘stalls’ or bookcases. We may assume that these were set at right angles to the walls,..with a window between each pair of cases. |
10. Metallurgy. A ‘walled area’ or compartment between low walls in which ores are roasted.
| 1887 Röhrig Technol. Wörterbuch I. 586/1, Röst-stadel (Met.), stall, mound, walled-in area. 1891 Century Dict. 1911 Webster. |
11. [? A distinct word;
cf. G.
stollen (
perh. the source).]
Coal-mining. (See
quot. 1883.)
pillar and stall: see
pillar n. 7.
post and stall: see
post n.1 7 d. So also
stall and room.
| 1665 D. Dudley Metallum Martis (1851) 36 When they have wrought the Crutes or Staules, (as some Colliers call them) as broad and as far in under the ground, as they think fit. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. iii. 148 In this Level He had five wallings or Stauls, out of which they dug the coal in great blocks. Ibid. Staules. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coalmining 237 Stall, a working place in a mine, varying in length from a few feet to 80 yards or more, according to the thickness of the seam and system of working adopted. Stall and Room work, working the coal in compartments, or in isolated chambers or pillars. |
12. [
f. stall v.
1 14.]
Sc. A surfeit, disrelish.
| 1782 Sir J. Sinclair Observ. Sc. Dial. 129 A staw. 1895 Crockett Men Moss-Haggs v, He had gotten a staw of the red soldiers. |
13. [
f. stall v.
1 9 d, e.]
a. Aeronaut. The condition of an aircraft when the streamline flow over its wings breaks down,
usu. owing to a low air speed or a high angle of attack; the sudden loss of lift (and height) associated with this.
| 1918 J. M. Grider War Birds (1927) 88 He went straight up three hundred feet and stalled and fell out of the stall right into the middle of the field. 1927 Glasgow Herald 31 Aug. 10 There is only one issue to the stall near the ground—a spin and a crash. 1928 [see level v.1 6]. 1966 M. Woodhouse Tree Frog xxv. 191 He couldn't slow down to my airspeed without..stalling and nobody..would risk a stall this close to the ground. 1976 W. Greatorex Crossover 204 The big jet fell ten thousand feet..in a stall that would have turned into a spin..with a less-experienced captain. |
b. The sudden stopping of an internal-combustion engine at low revolutions (see also
quot. 1959).
| 1959 Motor Manual (ed. 36) iv. 83 The very simple torque converter..would work well only at one speed. It could, for instance, be designed to give quite high multiplication at ‘stall’ (the moment when the car is on the point of moving). 1973 R. Rosenblum Mushroom Cave (1974) 3 The [boat's] motor was finicky; tying off the cord had precipitated a coughing fit in the carburetor, followed by a stall. |
14. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple
attrib., as
stall-back,
stall-collar,
stall-drain,
stall-elbow,
stall-end,
stall post,
stall-produce,
stall-ring,
stall-woman;
stall-like adj.; (sense 13)
stall warning (
usu. attrib.).
| 1895 M. R. James Abbey St. Edmund at Bury 131 The legends of saints are painted upon the wooden *stall-backs. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. §31. 127 Each horse should be bound to his stall with a leather *stall-collar... Iron chains make the strongest stall-collar-shanks. |
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 51 The main drain, into which all the *stall-drains should empty themselves. |
| 1882 Archæol. Cant. XIV. 115 Remnants of two *stall-elbows. |
| 1512 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 37 My body to be buried in the midd alye [of the church], at my *stale end. |
| 1895 C. Holland My Japanese Wife vii, The shops..have *stall-like extensions, encroaching upon the roadway. |
| 1828 Darvill Race Horse I. i. 31 Each *stall-post behind the horse's quarters should be placed at a distance from the north wall of the building..of ten feet, which will form the length of the stall. 1887 Dict. Archit. (Archit. Publ. Soc), Stall post, or hindpost of a stall. |
| 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxviii, His grandpapa..promised..not to give the child any cakes, lollipops, or *stall-produce whatever. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. §31. 127 The best hempen cords..are..soon apt to wear out in running through the smoothest *stall-rings. |
| 1958 Chambers's Techn. Dict. Add. 1016/1 *Stall-warning indicator, a device fitted to aeroplanes which do not provide positive warning of the approach of a stall by buffeting. 1976 B. Lelomber Dead Weight ii. 32 The stall-warning light blazed urgently as I tried to haul the shuddering nose up. |
| c 1811 Fuseli Lect. Art iv. (1848) 441 The child had seen many *stall and market women. |
b. Special comb.:
stall-board, (
a) the board in front of or behind a shop-window upon which goods are exposed for sale; (
b) a hat-maker's ironing-board; (
c) (see
quot. 1875); (
d) (see
quot. 1887);
stall-edition, a cheap edition of a work offered for sale on the bookstalls (
cf. stall-literature);
† stall-epistle (
nonce-use), an ‘open letter’ or pamphlet sold on the stalls;
stall gate, the road from a stall to the main road in a coal-mine;
stall-holder, (
a) the holder of an ecclesiastical stall; (
b) one who is in charge of a stall at a bazaar, etc.; (
c) one who occupies a seat in the stalls of a theatre, concert-hall, etc.;
stall-keeper,
† (
a) one who provides stable accommodation for horses;
† (
b) (see
quot. 1868); (
c) one who keeps a stall for sale of goods;
† stall-learning, learning acquired by the perusal of books on a bookstall;
stall-literature, the cheap literature of the bookstalls (
cf. stall-edition);
stall-man, (
a) a keeper of a book-stall; (
b) a man who contracts for and works a stall in a coal-mine; also each of a company of men associated for that purpose;
† stall-master [
= G.
stallmeister], a master of the horse;
stall plate = garter-plate (see
garter n. 8 and
cf. quot. 1522 in
stallation); also, a similar plate bearing the arms of a knight of another Order;
stall-reader, one who peruses the books on a bookstall;
stall seat, a seat in the stalls of a theatre;
stall shower, a shower-bath enclosed in a cubicle;
stall turn Aeronaut., a turn achieved by stalling one wing of an aircraft, causing increased drag on that wing and reduction of the radius of the turn; hence
stall-turn v. intr.;
stall vicar, ? a resident canon who also performed parochial duties, as distinguished from a parochial vicar;
stall-wages, the payment due by a canon to the vicar who took charge of his parish during his term of residence;
stall-whimper slang (see
quot.);
stall-work (
a) the construction of choir stalls; (
b) the working of coal in stalls.
| 1598 Stow Surv. 278 Before this Mountgodard streete, *stall boords were set vp by the Butchers, to shewe and to sell their flesh meate vpon. 1666 Act 18 & 19 Chas. II, c. 8 §12 It shall be lawfull for the Inhabitantes to suffer their Stall boards (when their Shop windowes are set open) to..extend eleaven inches and noe more. 1745 De Coetlogon's Hist. Arts & Sci. II. 107/2 When steamed sufficiently and dried, we'll put it again off the Block, brush it, and iron it on our Stall-board. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Stall-boards, a series of floors on to which soil or ore is pitched successively in excavating. 1887 Dict. Archit. (Archit. Publ. Soc.), Stall board, the division between the housing places in a stable. 1898 Fletcher Carpentry & Joinery xx. 222 [A ventilator] to prevent the condensation of the atmosphere against the glass, which would prevent the goods or articles on the stall-board being seen. |
| 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. iii. (1857) 40 A common *stall-edition of Blind Harry's ‘Wallace’. |
| 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. Wks. 1851 III. 297 So just is it in the language of *stall epistle non sense, that if [etc.]. |
| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining 237 *Stall gate. |
| 1849 Theatr. Programme 34/2 The Committee have the honor to announce the following *Stall Holders:—The Duchess of Leeds, [etc.]. 1881 M. E. Herbert Edith vi, The stallholders [of the bazaar] were presented. 1895 Dublin Rev. July 217 The secular canons did not displace the ancient stall-holders before 1309. 1963 Times 10 Jan. 4/3 Last night's performance in the Albert Hall allowed stallholders, at least, to hear more of that detail than ever before. |
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Establerizo, a horsekeeper, a *stall keeper, Stabularius. 1842 Ainsworth's Mag. II. 157 Went to keep a stall at the fancy fair. Threw all the other stall-keepers into the shade. 1865 J. B. Harwood Lady Flavia xvi, Tiresome men, they declared, expected stall-keepers [at a fancy-fair]..to smile incessantly at every coxcomb who might affect to cheapen a penwiper. 1868 Walcott Sacred Archæol. 560 At Lincoln they [the subsacrists] were called stall⁓keepers. 1914 Daily News 29 July 5 In several markets stall-keepers were assaulted. |
| 1673 [R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 76 How well they have behav'd themselves..let..the Avenue-Readers, the Wall-Observers, and those that are acquainted with *Stall-Learning..testifie. |
| 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. iii, My very copper pocket-money I laid out on *stall-literature. |
| 1761 Sterne Tr. Shandy III. xxxv, There are not three Bruscumbilles in Christendom,—said the *stall-man. |
| a 1608 Dee Relat. Spir. i. (1659) 230 Octavius Spinola, Chamberlain and *Stall-master. 1829 Scott Anne of G. xi, [They] scarce wondered at the fears of Caspar, the stall-master, when he found such a person in the stable. |
| 1842 N. H. Nicholas Hist. Order of Bath 206 A copy of the Inscriptions on some of the *Stall Plates of Knights of the Bath, will be found in the appendix. 1855 Franks in Archæologia XXXVI. 214 The Stall-plate of Sir William Parr. 1864 Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xiii. (ed. 3) 129 The Stall-Plates of the Garter are amongst the most interesting..of Historical records. 1980 J. Brooke-little Royal Ceremonies of State vii. 102/2 Henry VII's magnificent chapel at the East end of Westminster Abbey..makes a splendid setting for the installation of Knights Grand Cross who, like Garter Knights display banners and have stall plates. |
| c 1645 Milton Sonn. xi, A Book was writ of late call'd Tetrachordon;..Cries the *stall-reader, bless us! what a word on A title page is this! 1876 Hardy Ethelberta xli, Regarding her as a stall-reader regards the brilliant book he cannot afford to buy. |
| 1920 Daily Mail 17 Sept. 4/5 Before the war approximately 90 per cent. of the occupants of *stall seats in a West End theatre of any repute were in evening dress. |
| 1939 R. Chandler in Dime Detective Mag. Aug. 65/1 A glass *stall shower, monogrammed towels on a rack. 1978 S. Sheldon Bloodline xvii. 202 She walked through a tiled bathroom that included a marble bathtub and a stall shower. |
| 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 3 Oct. 30 How insecure the safety belt seemed when called upon to do *stall turns in the back seat of a Hart. 1948 Times 9 Feb. 2/3 The aircraft..climbed steeply, stall-turned, and..burst into flames. 1952 A. Y. Bramble Air-Plane Flight 205 The ‘stall turn’ is a useful manœuvre for changing to a reciprocal course (heading altered through 180°) in less time and space than by normal turning. |
| 1898 A. F. Leach Beverley Acc. Bk. (Surtees) I. Chapter Act Book 77 Though the parish was very large and many places in it very far off no regular vicarages had been instituted..; though *stall Vicars could not properly attend to them. |
| 1868 Walcott Sacred Archæol. 330 At Hereford, where the Miserere was always sung after the investiture [of a canon]; and a bond to pay *stall-wages to his vicar was signed. |
| 1676 Coles Dict., *Stall-whimper, a bastard. |
| 1811 Milner Eccl. Archit. Eng. Pref. 16 An..arcade of the most elegant *stall-work. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining 237 Stall work. 1886 Willis & Clark Cambridge I. 521 No attempt was made to complete the stall-work until the reign of Charles I. |
▸
Brit. fig.to set out one's stall (also one's stall out): to put on an impressive display; to determine to do something; to demonstrate what one is capable of; (
Sport,
orig. Cricket) to (determine to) perform resolutely,
esp. in defending.
| 1958 Times 11 Dec. 14/1 The Australian tactics were soon apparent, with Burke setting his stall out and McDonald losing no opportunity to score. 1961 Times 7 Nov. 13/5 It has never ‘set out its stall’ to attract either the employer or the worker. 1981 G. Boycott In Fast Lane iii. 16 On a pitch of normal Test-match quality we must set our stall out to bat for at least a day and a half and make 300 to 350 in the process. 1992 Independent 17 Apr. 20/4 The way forward now for Labour is not through pacts with the Liberal Democrats, proportional representation or other electoral gimmicks. We have to set out our stall and win the arguments. 2000 Clay Shooting Jan. 38/2 He set out his stall with a first day 99 and let the rest of the field try to catch him. |
▪ II. stall, n.2 (
stɔːl)
Also 6
staul(e, 7
stal.
[a. AF. estal, var. of estale: see stale n.3] † 1. A decoy-bird. Chiefly
fig. Obs.| ? a 1500 Chester Pl. 102 (MSS. B.W.h) Send forth women of thie countrye, namely those that beautifull be, and to thie Enemyes lett them draw nye, as stalles to stand them before. 1577 J. Knewstub Confut. (1579) 8 b, They seduce some goodly and zealous men.., placing them at the porch of their Synagogue,..to stand there as baites and stalles to deceiue others. 1584–7 Greene Carde of Fancie Wks. (Grosart) IV. 91 Did I disdaine to looke at the lure, and shall I now stoope without stall? 1592 ― Disput. He & She Cony-catchers F 2, Sitting or standing at the doore [of a whore house] like a staule, to allure or draw in wanton passengers. |
2. A pickpocket's helper who distracts the attention of the victim whose pocket is being rifled; also the action or an act of stalling (see
stall v.
2 1).
| 1591 Greene Conny Catching ii. Wks. (Grosart) X. 103 They see him drawe his purse, then spying in what place he puts it vppe, the stall or the shadowe beeing with the Foist or Nip, meets the man at some straight turne and iustles him. 1607 Dekker & Wilkins Jests D.'s Wks. (Grosart) II. 328 The stall..gets before you, &..raggles himself too & fro, while the foyst dooing as much behind, they both disquiet you, & the one picks your pocket. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Stall, a violent pressure in a crowd, made by pickpockets. 1881 Daily Tel. 30 Dec., I saw a woman..put her purse in her gown pocket, so I..said to my pal, ‘Chuck me a stall, and I'll have that.’ Ibid., They go out with the clever ones, and do the ‘stall’ business for them. |
3. slang. A pretext or something used as a pretext for thieving or imposition.
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 254/1 He induced a woman to let him have a halfpenny for a ‘stall’, that is, as a pretext with which to enter a shop for the purpose of stealing. 1889 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xli, Well, but how did they know it was true?.. It might have been only a stall. |
4. a. stall off: an act of stalling off (see
stall v.
2 2); an evasive story or trick.
slang. More recently, without
off.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Stall off,.. generally it means a pretence, excuse, or prevarication—as a person..entering into some plausible story, to excuse himself, his hearers or accusers would say, O yes, that's a good stall off. 1846 Swell's Night Guide 41 They are never at a loss for a stall. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 424/1 Women [fortune-tellers] who go about with a basket and a bit of driss (lace) in it, gammy lace, for a stall-off (a blind), in case they meet the master. 1931 W. Faulkner Sanctuary xvii. 156 If it was a stall, dont common sense tell you I'd have invented a better one? 1939 E. S. Gardner D. A. draws Circle (1940) vii. 98 ‘Sometimes when he'd be working, I'd take meals up to him. I think that was just a stall.’ ‘You mean the meals were for someone else?’ ‘Yes.’ |
b. An act of stalling (for time) or prevarication.
Cf. stall v.
2 3 a.
colloq.| 1945 Sun (Baltimore) 21 Nov. 1/1 The 200 delegates termed the company reply ‘a stall pure and simple’. 1963 J. N. Harris Weird World Wes Beattie (1964) iv. 49 It was a very good stall, if you know Edgar... So he left the whole matter in abeyance. 1977 D. E. Westlake Nobody's Perfect (1978) 141 It'll take me a while to get the cash together... This isn't a stall... I do have the money. |
▪ III. † stall, n.3 dial. Obs. [Perh. a dialectal variant of stavel, staddle n. Cf. Sc. stale,
stail, bottom of a stack (see
Eng. Dial. Dict.), which is
prob. a.
ON. stál (
Norw. staal) inside of a stack (? ultimately cogn. w.
staddle n.).]
(See
quot.)
| 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 72/2 Terms used by the Mower and Haymaker... Raking the Bottom Stalls, is to Rake up all the scattered Hay about the Cocks, and cast it thereon. |
▪ IV. stall, n.4 (
stɔːl)
Forms: α.
north. and
Sc. 6, 9
stale, 9
staill; β. 6–8
stall, 6–7
stal.
[Prob. related to staddle n.] A hive of bees; a ‘stock’ of bees in or for a hive; also, a bee-hive. (
Cf. staller3.)
| α 1505 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. III. 159 Item, to the gardinar of Linlithgw to by viij stales of beis, viij Franch crounis. 1588 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) II. 312, iij wynter stales of bees, and the planck, 12s and empty hyves 4d. 1808 Jamieson, s.v. Stale, Staill, or adj. staill skep of bees, S. denominated perhaps as being the principal skep, or mother-hive. 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. 94 A bee-man lang the chiel had been, Keep'd mony a winter stale. |
| β 1531 Elyot Gov. (1534) 7 b, For if..the bees may issue out of theyr stalles, with out peryl of raine..in the mornynge erely he callethe them. 1531 in Weaver Wells Wills 139 A stall of beyes. 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. iii. §23 Moue them not without urgent occasion: for often lifting vp the hiue..doth discourage the stall. 1670 J. Smith Eng. Improv. Reviv'd 180 On or at the North-west side of the Physick⁓garden..is built a Bee-house to contain 200 Stals, Stools, or Hives of Bees. 1743 Wesley in Wks. (1872) XIII. 179 They destroyed five stalls of bees. |
▪ V. † stall, a. Obs. rare.
[cogn. w. stall n.1] Stubborn, resolute.
| c 1205 Lay. 1841 Mid stocken & mid stanen stal [c 1275 strang] feht heo makeden. Ibid. 4143. Ibid. 10463 Heo nomen here uerden & comen to stal fehte. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9789 Noght stird hym þo stith in his stalle hert. |
▪ VI. stall, v.1 (
stɔːl)
Forms: 3–6
stal, (5
stol), 4–6
stalle, 6–7
stawl(e,
staule, 3–
stall.
[Several distinct formations appear to have coalesced. The vb. partly represents a ME. adoption of OF. estaller, estaler (see stale v.), ultimately f. Teut. *stallo- stall n.1, and partly an English formation on stall n.1 It is probable also that in some uses it was a back-formation from ME. i-stald, pa. pple. of stellen to place (see stell v.), OE. stęllan, f. Teut. *stallo- stall n.1, and in others a shortening of install and forestall. (OE. had forþsteallian intr., to take place, but the simple vb. is not recorded).] I. To place.
1. intr. To have one's abode, dwell.
Obs. exc. dial. in
to stall with, to tolerate the presence of (another), to get on with.
| c 1315 Shoreham Poems iii. 30 Þat hys þe blysse of heuene aboue, Þar holy soulen stalleþ. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. v. i. 39 Caesar Oh Anthony..I must perforce Haue shewne to thee such a declining day, Or looke on thine: we could not stall together, In the whole world. 1897 J. Gordon Village & Doctor [iv.] 138 Varney wondered whether the pious farmer was after the mother or daughter. ‘Depend on it,’ he said to me one day, ‘it is the young 'un; 'e never could stall with the old cat.’ |
2. trans. To assign a particular place to (a person or thing); to place.
| 1415 Hoccleve Hen. V & Knts. Garter 32 Dooth so and god in glorie shal yow stalle. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. 170 [Thow that] has all thing within thy hert[e] stallit, That may thy ȝouth oppressen or defade. 14.. Lydg. Order of Fools 116 in Q. Eliz. Acad. (1869) 83 Who..lowde lawghys whan he dothe morne, Amonge foles of riȝt he may be stallyd. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxi. 202 Shall I neuer ete bred to that he be stald In the stokys. 1481 Caxton Godfrey Prol. 2 But thystorye of the sayd Arthur is so gloryous and shynyng, that he is stalled in the fyrst place of the moost noble, beste and worthyest of the cristen men. 1513 Douglas æneis x. iv. 124 The mekle houk hym bayr was Tryton callit; For in hir foirstam was the monstre stallit. 1557 T. Phaer æneid vi. (1558) R j b, All her sisters out she calles, Infernall hideous haggs, and to their turmentes them she stalles. Ibid. vii. T j, Now hie in heauen he sitts, and on the golden starrs is stalde. 1581 J. Derricke Image Irel. ii. F j b, In highest place of all: The Cheeftaine then this traitrous knaue, like honest man doeth stall. 1594 R. C[arew] Tasso iii. 134 To Dudon..A Sepulchre of Cipresse sweete they stall, Their Barricados neere. |
† 3. To fix, appoint beforehand.
Obs.| 14.. Beryn 2610 For hir lawis been so streyt, & peynous ordinaunce Is stallid [but perh. read stablid] for hir falshede. 1532 Dice Play (Percy Soc.) 5 As I roamed in the Church of Pauls..looking for certain my companions, that hither might have stalled a meeting. a 1555 Gardiner in Foxe A. & M. (1563) 739, I know your Grace cannot staye these matters so sodenly, and I esteme it a great matter that thinges be stauld hetherto thus. |
† 4. To agree to the payment of (a debt) by instalments; to fix (days) for payment by instalments.
Cf. estall v.
Obs.| 1491 in Studer Oak Bk. S'hampton (1910) I. 153 That..no Meire, ne Auditours shall stall' no dayes with no persone, withoute graunte of comune Assemble. 1525 St. Papers Hen. VIII, VI. 462 marg., They be also sufficiently instructed, howe they shal ordre themself for stalling of days for part of the money due by thEmperour. 1558–9 Cat. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 484 The somme of sixe score eight pounds, eleven shillings, seven pence, stallid as a debt to this citte. 1585–6 Earl of Leicester Corr. (Camden) 45 Hir majesty refuseth ether to pardon hym..or to stall his dett. c 1640 J. Smyth Lives Berkeleys (1883) I. 107 And the residue of his debts..were stalled to bee payd by this lord at fower-score pounds a yeare. a 1670 J. Hacket Abp. Williams ii. (1693) 128 He petition'd, that His Majesty would stall his Fine, and take it up as his Estate would bear it, by a Thousand Pounds a year. |
| fig. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 1245 And his false counsellor..[he chose] To damne to death, or dole perpetuall, From whence he neuer should be quit, nor stal'd. a 1631 Donne Serm. Wks. 1839 IV. 154 Thou canst never promise thyself to sin..thriftly..and stall the fine; for thy soul, that is the price, is indivisible, and perishes entirely; and eternally at one payment. |
† 5. to stall forth,
stall out: to display or expose to view.
Obs. rare.
| 1547 Bk. Merchauntes c v b, They go fro town to town..to make their mustres and stall theyr marchandise. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Estaler, to stalle out, or shew wares. 1608 D. T[uvill] Ess. Pol. & Mor. 101 Desirous (as it were) to stall foorth her treasures. |
† 6. To strengthen, stablish.
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 5186 We mightily to Messam our men send, To fecche vs som fode..And abundantly broght with buernes betwene For to stall our astate and our strenght hold. |
II. To place in a ‘stall’.
† 7. a. To induct formally into a seat of rule or dignity; to enthrone (a king, a bishop, etc.);
spec. to induct (a canon, a knight of the Garter or Bath) into his ‘stall’. Hence, to place in a high office or dignity.
= install v. 1.
Obs.| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1334 Bot þenne þe bolde Baltazar, þat was his barn aldest, He was stalled in his stud, & stabled þe rengne. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 1364 But al on hye, above a dees, Sitte in a see imperial,..Y saugh perpetually y-stalled A femynyne creature. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 183 He was i-stalled at Lyncoln by þe arche⁓decon. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 253 For this is she that is stallyd And the quene of kynde called. c 1440 Brut 466 Sir Robert Fitzhugh was stalled Bisshop of London in the see of Seint Paules. 1522 Stat. Order Garter xiii. in Ashmole Inst. etc. (1672) App. g 2/b And that all such straungers..shall sende..a sufficient Deputie..to be stalled in his place. a 1562 G. Cavendish Wolsey (1893) 97 They had a specyall commyssion to creat and stalle the Kyng's Majestie in the Royall Order of Fraunce. 1565 Jewel Def. Apol. (1611) 473 He..that being a wretched sinfull man, hath stalled himselfe in the place of God. a 1591 H. Smith Six Serm. (1625) 91 When one stalleth vp another into Moses chaire, not hauing Moses Rod, nor Moses Spirit. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iii. 206 Long may'st thou liue..And see another, as I see thee now, Deck'd in thy Rights, as thou art stall'd in mine. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vi. 189 Where Kings were stall'd, disthron'd.., and crown'd. 1661 Morgan Sph. Gentry iv. iii. 40 This favour is done and shewed to them which may not well come in their proper persons that they might be stalled by attourneys. |
† b. Cant.
esp. in
to stall (a beggar) to the rogue.
| 1567 Harman Caveat ii. (1869) 34 And if he mete any begger..he wyll demaund of him, whether euer he was stalled to the roge or no. If he saye he was, he wyll know..his name that stalled hym. 1610 Rowlands Martin Markall F 4, He ordered, that euery one..taking vpon him the occupation of begging, shal be stauled to the order of rogues. 1622 Fletcher Beggars Bush iii. iii, Higgen [a beggar]. I.. stall thee by the Salmon into the clows, To mand on the pad. |
8. a. To put (an animal) in a stall; to keep or confine in a stall,
esp. for fattening; also
to stall to (a particular kind of food),
to stall up.
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 124 A Monthe, which..The Plowed Oxe in wynter stalleth; And fyr into the halle he bringeth. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxi. 28 (Petit. Gray Horse) I wald at Ȝoull be housit and stald. 1530 Palsgr. 732/1, I stall an ox to fede him fatte, je mets en estal. 1588 Kyd Househ. Philos. Wks. (1901) 246 The flesh of wild Beasts..is not so soone puft vp and fattened as those Beasts that commonly are stald and foddered. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 205 So farre from..stalling the Oxe and Lyon together. 1764 Museum Rust. III. 7 As to oxen, we have them to the full as good, when stalled to turneps, carrots, etc. as if they were fed in the finest fatting grounds. 1837 Flemish Husb. 62 in Libr. Usef. Kn., Husb. III, An ox kept stalled up for six or eight months and well fed, will double his original weight. 1850 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. i. 89, I much prefer penning to stalling the sheep. 1894 K. Grahame Pagan Papers 79 On the other hand, can you stall the wild ass of the desert? |
| transf. and fig. 1553 Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 30 marg., Young men stalled to be made fatte. 1581 Mulcaster Positions vi. (1887) 41 Olde Asclepiades is by Galene confuted, and stawled for an asse. 1601 Shakes. All's Well i. iii. 131 Praie you leaue mee, stall this in your bosome, and I thanke you for your honest care. 1839 Bailey Festus (1848) 61, I saw the sun-god stall his flaming steeds In customary splendour. |
b. intr. Of cattle: To be lodged in stalls.
| 1805–6 Cary Dante, Inf. xxv. 28 He [Cacus]..here must tread A different journey, for his fraudful theft Of the great herd that near him stall'd. |
III. To come or bring to a stand.
9. intr. † a. Of a beast of the chase: To come to a stand.
Obs. † b. Of an army: To take up a position for combat.
Obs.| c 1400 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) ii, And þen he maketh a ruse in some side and þere he stalleth or squatteth. Ibid. xxvi, Sometyme an herte wille stalle and looke aboute a gret while. c 1450 Merlin x. 161 And ther thei stalleden and foughten the ton vpon the tother. a 1562 G. Cavendish Wolsey (1893) 89 The boore issued owt of his denne, chaced with an hound in to the playn, and beyng there, stalled a whyle gasyng uppon the people. |
c. Of a draught animal: To come to a halt because of mud or other impediment.
| 1807 C. W. Janson Stranger in Amer. 172 The last time he passed, his horses stalled, that is, they were for some time unable to drag the wagon through the worst places. 1857 W. Chandless Visit to Salt Lake II. vi. 233 His team were none too strong, and twice he ‘stalled’ hopelessly, and had to send to the nearest farm for a yoke of cattle. |
d. Of an aircraft or its pilot: to enter a stall.
| 1910 R. Loraine Jrnl. Apr. in W. Loraine Robert Loraine (1938) vi. 106 The machine leapt higher, so did my heart, higher still—then—puff!—I came to earth, having stalled and crashed. 1917 Flying 21 Feb. 136/1 An aeroplane can only reduce its flying speed to a certain minimum, after which it will stall. 1931 Statesman (Calcutta) 5 Dec., It is claimed that the autogiro cannot ‘stall’, or lose flying-speed. 1958 D. Piggott Gliding vii. 34 The actual speed at which the glider stalls will be raised when the glider is being turned or manœuvred..or if a heavier load is being carried. 1975 L. J. Clancy Aerodynamics v. 98 If a particular wing is such that it stalls too suddenly, it may be necessary to provide some artificial pre-stall warning device. |
e. Of an engine or vehicle: to stop suddenly as if of its own accord. Also with the driver or the occupants of the vehicle as
subj.| 1914 R. & E. Shackleton Four on Tour in Eng. 204 A few miles beyond Chipping Norton we stalled near the foot of a hill—and found that it was because of an inexcusable forgetting of gasoline! 1932 Birmingham Post 17 Dec. 16/2 The men drove off in the van. A few minutes later the engine stalled. 1956 ‘C. Blackstock’ Dewey Death ix. 207, I share..a car with a friend... She once stalled in the middle of Piccadilly Circus. 1973 R. Rosenblum Mushroom Cave (1974) 5 He let go of the throttle string, and the [boat's] motor stalled. |
f. To loiter or linger
around (also
along); to ‘hang about’.
U.S. colloq.| 1916 ‘B. M. Bower’ Phantom Herd i. 5 I've been stalling along and keeping the best of the bucks in the foreground. Ibid. xi. 194, I stalled around out there till my money gave out. 1976 P. G. Winslow Witch Hill Murder (1977) ii. xv. 207, I hoped he might answer sort of friendly..and I've been kind of stalling around. |
g. transf. and
fig.| 1923 R. D. Paine Comrades of Rolling Ocean ii. 22 When things happened too fast, his mind stalled on a dead center. 1953 N. Tinbergen Herring Gull's World i. 1 It stalls, makes a sharp turn and dives down. 1971 C. Bonington Annapurna South Face xvi. 199, I immediately noticed the lack of oxygen; once again my progress stalled into a crawl with rests at almost every step. |
† 10. trans. To bring (a hunted animal) to a stand. Also
transf. (
Cf. forestall v. 1.)
Obs.| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 188, I dred..Lest ho me eschaped þat I þer chos, Er I at steuen hir moȝt stalle. 1599 Shakes., etc. Pass. Pilgr. xix, When as thine eye hath chose the dame, And stall'd the deer that thou shouldst strike. |
11. † a. To bring to a standstill, render unable to proceed.
lit. and
fig. Obs.| c 1591 Epit. Sidney 2 in R.S. Phœnix Nest (1593) 10 Stald are my thoughts, which lou'd, and lost, the wonder of our age. 1598 Florio Ital. Dict. Ep. Ded. a 4, If I, who many yeeres haue made profession of this toong,..in many wordes haue beene so stal'd, and stabled, as such sticking made me blushinglie confesse my ignorance [etc.]. 1603 B. Jonson Sejanus iii. i. 393 [Silius stabs himself.] Tib. We are not pleased in this sad accident That thus hath stalled, and abus'd our mercy. 1650 May Old Couple iii. (1658) 24 The time will be too short To get a pardon, specially as I Have lay'd some friends to stall it underhand. 1656 Baxter Reformed Pastor viii. 465 See that you preach to such auditors as these, some higher points, that stall their understandings, and feel them not all with milk, but sometime with stronger meat. 1675 ― Cath. Theol. ii. 98 And he that is stalled with the question, ‘Can a Sinner leave his Sin, and love goodness?’ would easily answer, [sc. if he understood the question to mean] ‘Whether he be willing to do it? Yea.’ |
b. esp. in
pass. To become stuck (in mud, mire, a snowdrift, etc.). Now only
U.S. or
dial. Also
fig. (chiefly
U.S.), of an assembly, plan, etc.: to be hindered or held up.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. iii. 525 These floodis ar gone fader, behold... As still as a stone oure ship is stold. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. i. ii. i. 291 Like him in æsope, that when his cart was stalled, lay flat on his backe and cryed aloud helpe Hercules. 1790 W. H. Marshall Midlands II. 443 To be stalled; to be set fast in a slough, or bad road. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. xliv, He knew no troubles waggoners have known, Of getting stall'd, and such disasters drear. 1864 Lowell McClellan's Rep. Prose Wks. 1890 V. 100 He plunged into that Dismal Swamp of constitutional hermeneutics, in which the wheels of government were stalled at the outbreak of our rebellion. 1897 H. Porter Campaign. Grant x. 164 A teamster whose waggon was stalled in a place where it was somewhat swampy. 1910 Outlook 2 July 473 Congress would have been stalled in its efforts to prepare certain legislation without their aid. 1953 Times 31 Oct. 3/6 General Thimayya said that ‘explanations’, which have been stalled for the past fortnight, were to be resumed to-morrow. 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, you Bastard v. 143 Both their requests to make phone calls were stalled. 1978 N.Y. Times 29 Mar. a 8/3 The seventh session of the..conference was stalled at its beginning here today over the question of who would preside. |
c. Mech. To cause (an aircraft, vehicle, engine, etc.) to stall.
| 1904 W. Wright in M. McFarland Papers Wilbur & Orville Wright (1953) I. 442 He allowed the machine to turn up a little too much and it stalled it. 1914 Hamel & Turner Flying x. 198 He permitted the machine to lose speed until it had become what is known as ‘stalled’,—that momentary pause before the machine turns over on its side or nose and falls. 1918 Brokaw & Starr Putnam's Automobile Handbk. xxv. 167 Stalling the motor is the result of feeding too little gas with the accelerator. 1930 J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel iv. 266 He had to get out to crank the car as he had stalled the motor. 1947 F. S. Hollidge Driving Test Fully Explained iii. 10 A timely change down will often prevent ‘stalling’ the engine. c 1965 A. Christie Autobiogr. (1977) vii. ii. 332, I stalled the engine once or twice..and I was rather chary about passing things. 1973 Daily Tel. 11 July 2/5 There was no structural failure in the Russian TU-144 supersonic airliner until after the pilot had stalled it. |
12. a. To take away (a person's) appetite; to satiate, surfeit
with,
of. Now
dial. and
Sc. Prob. sometimes associated with sense 8;
cf. the definition ‘
Stall, to over-feed, to make fat, to stuff, etc.’ (Dyche & Pardon, 1735).
| 1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus M j b, Sith..you were stauled with yester dayes Disputation, I will prescribe you certaine Inductions to be performed at the Vniuersitie. 1690 W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. 139, I can never be stalled with that delight. 1787 Burns To Haggis v, Is there that owre his french ragout, Or olio that wad staw a sow. 1816 Scott Old Mort. i, Which of them would sit six hours on a wet hill-side to hear a godly sermon? I trow an hour o't wad staw them. 1875 W. D. Parish Sussex Gloss. s.v. Stalled, Aint you fairly stalled of waiting? |
b. To cause aversion in, cause to turn away; also with
off. Now
rare.
| 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. vii. 74 Mathematicks he moderately studieth to his great contentment. Using it as ballast for his soul, yet to fix it not to stall it. 1856 Dickens Lett. (1880) I. 448 It conveyed..an idea of incompleteness..and is likely to stall some readers off. 1874 Slang Dict. 308 Stall, to frighten or discourage. |
c. To weary or tire; to fatigue. Usu. in
pass. Chiefly
Sc. and
north. dial.| 1816, etc. in Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. Stall v. 19. 1948 I. Brown No Idle Words 108 Stalled, applied to depressed human beings, is a good old usage. ‘You look stalled’ is Yorkshire for ‘You look dull’. 1967 J. Wainwright Talent for Murder 133 He was..cold, wet and fed-up—to use his own expression (as a Yorkshireman) he was ‘stalled’. |
† 13. = forestall v. 2 b.
Obs.| 1474 Coventry Leet-bk. 401 That no maner of man nor woman schall not stalle nor Regrate no markett. |
IV. 14. To furnish (a choir, chancel) with stalls as seats.
| 1516 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 243 The Qwyer..shall be double staulled. 1857 Yorksh. Archæol. Jrnl. XV. 490 The chancel is stalled. |
▪ VII. stall, v.2 slang. (
stɔːl)
[f. stall n.2 Cf. stale v.5] 1. a. trans. To screen (a pickpocket or his operations) from observation; also with
off. Also, to close
up or surround and hustle (a person who is to be robbed).
| 1592 Greene Disput. Conny-Catcher Wks. (Grosart) X. 210, I either nip or foyst, or els staule an other while hee hath stroken, dispatcht, and gone. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., Stall off, I wish you'd stall me off from that crib,..meaning, walk in such a way as to cover or obscure me from notice. Ibid. s.v. Stall up, To stall a person up, (a term used by pickpockets) is to surround him..and by violence force his arms up, and keep them in that position while others of the gang rifle his pockets at pleasure. |
b. intr. To screen a pickpocket's operation; to act as a look-out during a robbery or burglary.
| 1839 in ‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar T. (1857) 34 To stall, to screen a robbery while it is being perpetrated. 1882 Sydney Slang Dict. 9/2, I pinched a swell of a fawney and fenced it for a double finnip and a cooter. My jomer stalled. 1926 J. Black You can't Win xxi. 338 Coppers located ‘work’ for burglars and stalled for them while they worked. |
2. to stall off.
a. To get rid of by evasive tactics, a trick, plausible tale or the like; also, in sporting parlance, to keep the upper hand of (a competitor).
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., To avoid or escape any impending evil or punishment by means of artifice, submission, bribe, or otherwise, is also called stalling it off. 1821 Sporting Mag. VIII. 151 The hardy mountaineer would not be stalled off. 1862 Sala Seven Sons III. viii. 157 [He] did his best..to..stall off the awful truth with discreet shrugs and simpers. 1883 Daily News 12 Sept. 6/1 To-day she ran very fast, but could not stall off the challenge by Florence, who won very easily at last. 1905 Athenæum 7 Oct. 464/2 His very preface should have stalled off denunciations of this kind. |
b. To get off or extricate (a person) by artifice.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., To extricate a person from any dilemma or save him from disgrace, is called stalling him off. 1828 Lytton Pelham lxxxiii, Plant your stumps, Master Guinea Pig; you are going to stall off the Daw's baby in prime twig, eh? |
3. a. trans. To put (someone)
off for the time being. Now
usu. without
advb.| 1829 P. Egan Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 345 He would not be ‘stalled off’ by the most knowing of the knowing. 1930 Sat. Even. Post 26 July 26/1 We might be able to stall them for two or three days with the idea that Tony is in Washington tryin' to fix the rap against them. 1948 A. Hynd Pinkerton Case Bk. 56 He kept stalling the woman off with one excuse or another. 1963 J. N. Harris Weird World Wes Beattie (1964) iii. 36 So I stalled him off. I said I couldn't remember meeting anyone at Mac's. 1977 J. Crosby Company of Friends xx. 128 Elaine is in Paris. To bargain some more. It's the only way left to stall him. It's important to stall him. |
b. intr. To prevaricate; to be evasive. Also, to play
for time or temporize. Freq. in
U.S. colloq. phr. quit stalling (
usu. imp.).
orig. U.S.| 1903 A. H. Lewis Boss 23 [If] Big Kennedy shows up to stall ag'inst you, why I should say [etc.]. 1932 W. Faulkner Light in August ix. 202 ‘Quit stalling,’ the stranger said. ‘If you croaked the guy, say so.’ 1934 D. Runyon in Collier's 24 Nov. 52/2 All she can think of..is to stall for time. 1953 J. Hilton Time & Time Again iii. 220 He was stalling for time. 1959 F. Hobson Death on Back-Bench viii. 101 Just quit stalling..and come clean. 1969 Listener 9 Jan. 41/2 Suppose Mr Ransom suddenly seized Miss Gold and flung her down on the office table with a snarl of ‘Quit stalling,’ like one of her favourite film actors. 1980 S. Naipaul Black & White i. iii. 34 For more than a year the Guyanese courts had been stalling on the custody suit his parents had brought. |
▪ VIII. stall obs. pa. tense of
steal v.