▪ I. † stale, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 stalu, Northumb. stalo, 2 stala, 2–4 stale.
[OE. stalu str. fem. = OHG. stala fem. (mod.G. -stahl in diebstahl masc., theft), f. OTeut. *stal-: *stel-: see steal v.]
1. Theft, stealing.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xix. 18 Ne doe ðu ðiofonto vel stalo. 971 Blickling Hom. 75 Þis þu cwist for þinre ᵹitsunge & for þinre stale. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 13 Stala and steorfa swiðe eow scal hene. a 1200 Moral Ode 253 Þa..þe luueden tening [v.r. reuing] and stale. 1340 Ayenb. 9 Ine þise heste is vorbode roberie, þiefþe, stale, and gavel. |
2. by stale = by stealth.
| a 1240 Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 249 Hire wune is to cumen bi stale..hwen me least cweneð. |
▪ II. stale, n.2 Now dial.
(steɪl)
Forms: 1 stalu, 7 staile, stayl, 7, 9 stail, 3– stale. See also steal n.1
[OE. stalu str. fem., related by ablaut to the synonymous stela steal n.1 Cf. MFlem. stael (Kilian), WFlem. staal (De Bo), NFris. stal, staal masc., handle, WFris. stâlle.
The words stale and steal cannot be completely separated, as the spellings stale, stail may represent a dialectal pronunciation of steal, and on the other hand the sound which would be given in some dialects to stale would naturally be written steal by outsiders. For convenience, the examples with the spelling stail(e stale are placed here, and those with the spelling steal, steele, etc. under steal n.1]
† 1. Each of the two upright sides of a ladder (obs.). Also (now dial.), a rung or step of a ladder. Also, the stave of a rack in a stable.
Cf. OE. hearpanstala ‘ceminigi’ (a 1000 in Wr.-Wülcker 203/36), perh. the side-pieces of a harp.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 354 Scheome and pine..beoð þe two leddre stalen þet beoð upriht to þe heouene, and bitweonen þeos stalen beoð þe tindes ivestned of alle gode þeawes, bi hwuche me climbeð to þe blisse of heouene. c 1315 Shoreham Poems i. 49 Þis ilke laddre is charite, Þe stales gode þeawis. 1714 Savage Art Prudence 172 The first Stale of this Ladder of Fortune. 1887 Kent. Gloss., Stales, the staves, or risings of a ladder, or the staves of a rack in a stable. 1892 Daily News 13 Apr. 6/5 [Letter from a former labourer in Kent.] Give the labourer easy access to the land, and thereby put the stails very close together in the bottom of the social ladder. |
† b. fig. Position in a series. Obs. rare—1.
[This may perh. belong to stall n.1]
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 1002 Iasper hyȝt ȝe fyrst gemme..Saffer helde þe secounde stale. |
2. A handle, esp. a long slender handle, as the handle of a rake, etc. Also, the stem of a pipe, etc.
| a 1200 Sidonius Glosses in Anecd. Oxon. I. v. 59/22 Ansae et ansulae alicuius rei sunt illa eminentia in illa re per quam capi possit .i. ‘stale’. c 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxii. 279 (Vesp. MS.) And lerede men a ladel bygge with a long stale [v.r. stele]. 1547 MS. Harl. 1419 lf. 145 b, Twoo forkes of mettall guilte, the stales beinge of glasse. 1624 in Simpkinson Washingtons (1860) p. lvii, Pitch forke stailes. 1649–53 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (ed. 3) 71 Thy Stail need not be so long as a naturall Spade-stail. a 1652 Brome Covent Gard. i. i. stage-dir., A Table bottle, light, and Tobacco stales. 1675 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (ed. 2) 251 Which Net you hold strongly against the place, by the help of a Stail or handle that is fixed athwart the Bow. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 343/1 The Mallet when it is large, and a long Stail or Handle, is termed a Maul by Wood Men. Ibid. iii. xxi. (Roxb.) 253/2 He beareth Sable a Dung fork,..Argent, the shank or staile. 1742 Lond. & Country Brew. i. (ed. 4) 61 In Case your Cask is a Butt,..have ready boiling..Water, which put in, and, with a long Stale and a little Birch fastened to its End, scrub the Bottom. 1828 Mech. Mag. IX. 238 They are set like unto a hoe for a stroke with a straight stail (handle). 1890 Manch. Guardian 4 Feb. 12/3 You came to me with the axe head in one hand and the stale in the other. |
3. A stalk or stem.
| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. xi. 194 And theryn do pistacis iij by tale, And of hem all vp wol ther ryse a stale [germen]. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Stail, the stalk of a flower or fruit. |
4. The stem of an arrow or spear.
| 1553 Brende Q. Curtius ix. 192 The Surgians cut of the stale of that shaft in suche wise, that they moued not the heade that was wythin the fleshe. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 276/1 Hastile,..a speare staffe or the shaft and stale of a iaueline. c 1611 Chapman Iliad iv. 173 Seeing th'arrowes stale without. |
▪ III. stale, n.3
(steɪl)
[Prob. a. AF. estale, estal (only in Bozon, 13th c.), applied to a pigeon used to entice a hawk into the net; that this word is not an adoption from English is rendered probable by the occurrence of the extended form estalon in continental Fr. with the same sense (Cotgrave 1611; Godefroy gives earlier instances spelt estolon, etelon). Of Teut. origin; cf. OE. stælhrán decoy reindeer, stællo (Northumbrian) catching (of fish), prob. from the root of steall place (stall n.1) stęllan to place; for the sense cf. the rendering of stale by ‘stacionaria’ in the Promptorium, and G. stellvogel decoy-bird.
It has been usual to regard the stæl- in stælhrán as identical with the combining form of stalu theft (as in stælᵹiest predatory guest, stælhere plundering army); but the difference of meaning renders this unlikely; and the current identification of ONorthumb. stællo with stalu seems inadmissible on grounds both of form and sense.]
1. A decoy-bird; a living bird used to entice other birds of its own species, or birds of prey, into a snare or net. Also, a stuffed bird or figure of a bird used for the same purpose. Obs. (? exc. dial.)
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 472/1 Stale, of fowlynge or byrdys takynge, stacionaria. a 1542 Surrey Song, ‘Eche beast can chose’ in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 220 As a faucon free..Which..for no stale doth care. 1552 Huloet, Stale that fowlers vse, incitabulum, mentita auis. 1579–80 North Plutarch, Sylla (1595) 515 Like vnto the fowlers, that by their stales draw other birdes into their nets. 1608 [Tofte] Ariosto's Sat. iv. (1611) 52 A wife that's more then faire is like a stale, Or chanting whistle which brings birds to thrall. 1621 Markham Fowling 31 You shal stake downe here and there a liue Stale, being either a Mallard, or a Widgon, or a Tayle. 1624 Quarles Job Militant v. med. xxv, As the treacherous Fowler..doth first deuise To make a Bird his stale, at whose false Call, Others may chance into the selfe⁓same Thrall. 1675 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (ed. 2) 322 Stale, a living Fowl, put in any place to allure other Fowl, where they may be taken. 1681 J. Flavel Meth. Grace xxxv. 588 'Tis the living bird that makes the best stale to draw others into the net. 1768 Pennant Brit. Zool. II. 365 The birds, enticed by a stale or stuffed bird, come under the nets. 1888 Fenn Dick o' the Fens 53 If my live birds aren't all drownded and my stales spoiled. |
| attrib. 1725 Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Day-net, When you have placed..your Gigs and Stales, go to the further End of your long Drawing-lines and Stale-lines, and [etc.]. |
b. in figurative context.
| 1579 Stubbes Discov. Gaping Gulf B 4 b, Her daughter Margerit was the stale to lure..them that otherwise flewe hyghe..and could not be gotten. 1584 Stafford in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1913) Jan. 44 note, I am more than half afraid that he [Sidney] is made but a stale to take a bird withal. 1614 Jackson Creed iii. ix. 97 Bellarmines distinctions..may hence be described to be but meere stales to catch guls. 1645 F. Thorpe in Hull Lett. (1886) 120 But five yeares experience hath taught English men another lesson than to be Catcht twice with one Stale. |
† 2. transf. and fig. A deceptive means of allurement; a person or thing held out as a lure or bait to entrap a person. Obs.
| a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 324 It was a stale to take the devyl in a brake. 1530 Tindale Pract. Prelates B ij, The chefest stale wherwith the cardinall caught the kynges grace. 1577 Holinshed Hist. Eng. I. 79/2 The Britaynes woulde oftentimes..lay their Cattell..in places conueniente, to bee as a stale to the Romaynes, and when the Romaynes should make to them to fetch the same away..they would fall vpon them. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 187 The trumpery in my house, goe bring it hither For stale to catch these theeues. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. i. 66 Beautifull boyes, who serve as stales to procure them customers. 1670 Eachard Cont. Clergy 88 Six-pence or a shilling to put into the Box, for a stale to decoy in the rest of the Parish. 1692 [J. Wilson] Vindic. Carol. xxvi. 132 Which yet they made use of but as a Stale to the Faction. |
† 3. A person who acts as a decoy; esp. the accomplice of a thief or sharper. Obs.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 119 Theyr mynystres be false bretherne or false systerne, stales of y⊇ deuyll. 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 36 Every Vawter in one blinde Tauerne or other, is Tenant at will,..and playes the stale to vtter their victualls. 1591 Greene Conny Catching i. Wks. (Grosart) X. 38 He that faceth the man, the Stale. 1610 Rowlands M. Mark-all G 2, [He] was faine to liue among the wicked,..a stale for a foyst. 1622 J. Taylor (Water P.) Water-Cormorant D 2 b, He..Can play the Foist, the Nip, the Stale. 1633 Marmion Fine Companion iii. iv, This is Captain Whibble, the Towne stale, For all cheating imployments. |
† 4. More fully common stale: a prostitute of the lowest class, employed as a decoy by thieves. Often (? associated with stale a.) used gen. as a term of contempt for an unchaste woman. Obs.
| 1593 Tell-Trothe's N.Y. Gift (1876) 35 Can women want wit to frustrate a common stale. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. ii. 26 Spare not to tell him, that hee hath wronged his Honor in marrying the renowned Claudio..to a contaminated stale. Ibid. iv. i. 66, I stand dishonour'd that haue gone about, To linke my deare friend to a common stale. 1605 Daniel Queen's Arcadia ii. i, But to be leaft for such a one as she, The stale of all, what will folke thinke of me? a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 265 Detesting as he said the insatiable impudency of a prostitute Stale. |
| fig. 1641 Milton Reform. i. 10 The Bishops..suffer'd themselvs to be the common stales to countenance with their prostituted Gravities every Politick Fetch that was then on foot. |
† 5. A person or thing made use of as a means or tool for inducing some result, as a pretext for some action, or as a cover for sinister designs. Cf. stalking-horse. Obs.
| 1580 Grindal in Strype Life (1710) 252 That of the two nominated, one should be an unfit Man, and as it were a Stale, to bring the Office to the other. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 260 Had he none else to make a stale but me? 1598–9 B. Jonson Case Altered v. iii, Was this your drift? to vse Fernezes name? Was he your fittest stale? 1606 Hieron Truth's Purch. ii. 45 Not to be (as it were) a stale, vnder the shadow whereof we may the more boldly giue our selues ouer to vngodlinesse. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World iv. iii. §19. 239 Eurydice..meaning nothing lesse than to let her husband serue as a Stale, keeping the throne warme, till another were growne old enough to sit in it. 1620–6 Quarles Feast for Worms 158 Lawyers arise, make not your righteous Lawes, A stale for Bribes. 1624 [Scott] 2nd Pt. Vox Populi 14 Spaine hath..vsed their alliance and friendshippe but as a stale or stalking-horse ouer their backes to shoote at others. c 1640 Suckling Brennoralt ii. i, Her health, is a stale, And helps us to make us drinke on. 1652 Peyton Catastr. Ho. Stuarts (1731) 11 Giving it out for a Stale, that the Earl, with others, would have killed him. 1711 Puckle Club (1817) 20 A pretence of kindness is the universal stale to all base projects. 1774 Ann. Reg., Hist. Europe 20/1 Those people were only used as a stale for ambition and rapacity. |
† 6. A lover or mistress whose devotion is turned into ridicule for the amusement of a rival or rivals.
Some examples suggest allusion to some unknown sense relating to deer.
| 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 96, I perceiue Lucilla (said he) that I was made thy stale, and Philautus thy laughing stocke. 1588 T. Hughes Arthur i. ii. 3 Was I then chose and wedded for his stale? 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. ii. i. 101 [A neglected wife says:] But, too vnruly Deere, he breakes the pale And feedes from home; poore I am but his stale. 1611 Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl iv. ii. 154 Did I for this lose all my friends..to be made A stale to a common whore? a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Little Fr. Lawyer iii. i, This comes of rutting; Are we made stales to one another? 1635 Rutter Sheph. Holyday v. ii. G 1 b, She would say, You have another mistresse, go to her, I wil not be her stale. |
▪ IV. † stale, n.4 Obs.
Also 4–6 staill, 6 stayll, stail(e, steill, (6–7 stall, 7 stal).
[a. OF. estal, used in many specific applications of the senses (1) place, position, (2) something placed or fixed (mod.F. étal butcher's stall), a. OHG. stal: see stall n.1]
1. A fixed position or station. to hold or keep (one's) stale [= OF. tenir (son) estal]: to maintain one's position in battle.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 97 [Thai] ordanit, that the mast party Of thair men suld gang sarraly With thar lordis, and hald a staill. c 1450 in Kingsford Chron. London (1905) 123 And at pavelen..þ⊇ Erle of Dorzet helde is stale, and þer he toke prisoners. 1470–85 Malory Arthur v. xi. 179 And syr Florence with his C knyghtes alwey kepte the stale and foughte manly. |
2. An ambush. in stale: in ambush.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ix. viii. 811 And he in stale howyd al stil. 1513 Douglas æneis xi. x. 96 It is a stelling place and sovir harbry, Quhar ost in staill or embuschment may ly. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV (1809) 43 While he stode in a stale to lie in waite [1568 Grafton Chron. II. 439 He lay in stale to waite] for the relefe that myght come from Caleis. 1557 Edgeworth Serm. 231 God badde him [Joshua] Pone insidias vrbi post eam, laye a stale behynde the citie. 1577 Holinshed Hist. Eng. II. 1479/2 The erle of Essex..with .ii. C. speares was layde in a stale, if the Frenchmen had come neerer. 1627 Taking of Ship ‘St. Esprit’ in Harl. Misc. (1810) V. 111 Which two noblemen..were drawn within danger by a stale made by twenty common soldiers. |
3. A body of armed men posted in a particular place for ambush or otherwise, or detached for reconnoitring or other special service. Also (? chiefly Sc.) the main body of an army.
| c 1350 in Nicolas Hist. Royal Navy (1847) II. 491 [Every time that it shall be ordered..that armed men..shall land on the enemy's coast to seek victuals.., then there shall be ordained a sufficient ‘stale’ of armed men and archers who shall wait together on the land until the ‘forreiours’ return to them]. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 1096 Brocht [þar pray] nere to þar stale þat þar abad nocht ful lang. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1355 [Gawayne] sterttes owtte to hys stede, and with his stale wendes. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 9647 Thei of Grece were gadered alle With-oute the diche be-fore the walle, In-myddis the feld ther standis her stale. 14.. in Nicolas Hist. Royal Navy (1847) II. 491 That no maner man goe for no forage, but it be with a stale, the whiche shall fowrth twise a weeke. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 32 Schyr Garrat Herroun in the staill can abide. 1513 Ld. Dacre in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. I. 94 And I come with a stale to a place called the Dungyon. 1530 Palsgr. 275/1 Stale of horsmen in a felde, guectevrs. 1532 St. Papers Hen. VIII, IV. 626 Neveryeles I knaw asweill by Englisemen as Scottishmen that their stale was no les then thre thowsand men. 1543 Ibid. V. 315 Litle regardinge the service done by the foote men remayninge in the staile, but attributing all the prayse to theim selfes. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 127 Sir Willyam FitzWillyam..in great haste sent for his stale of horsemen that he had left couered. 1565 Golding Cæsar v. 118 For they neuer fought in great companyes.., but scatterynge.., and had stales lying in diuers places one to serue anothers turne. 1577 Holinshed Hist. Scot. 471/2 The lard of Drunlanrig lying al thys while in ambush..forbare to breake out to gyue any charge vppon his enimies, doubting least the Earle of Lennox hadde kept a stale behynde. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 74 George Earl of Ormond was in the staill him self. 1579 Churchyard Gen. Rehearsal Wars I j, He remained with the whole power of footemen nere the Blacke Neastes, as a stale to annoye the enemie. |
b. in stale: in battle array.
| 1513 Douglas æneis iv. viii. 123 King Pentheus, in his wod rage dotand, Thocht he beheld gret rowtis stand in staill Of the Ewmenydes. |
c. flying stale: a body of troops ordered to move rapidly to any part of the field in which help is required.
| a 1500 Harding's Chron. ccxl. add. Harl. MS. (1812) 417 With fotemen in tho two erledomes with fleynge stales to releue theym. 1532 St. Papers Hen. VIII, IV. 628 And I did send for there strenght my cousyn Sir Arthur Darcy, being accompaned with 6 hundreth and above in a fleyng stale. |
d. transf. A band of hunters.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vi. 1609 (Wemyss MS.) As he past apon a day In till his hunting him to play..The staill and þe settys set. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) II. 298 The staill past throw the wod with sic noyis..that all the bestis wer rasit fra thair dennis. |
▪ V. stale, n.5
(steɪl)
Also 7 stall.
[? f. stale v. But cf. Du. stalle, MLG. stal, G. stall.]
1. Urine; now only of horses and cattle.
| a 1400 Stockh. Medical MS. in Anglia XVIII. 299 In werd ben men & women..þat þer stale mown not holde. 1530 Palsgr. 275/1 Stale pysse, escloy. 1535 Coverdale Isa. xxxvi. 12 That they be not compelled to eate their owne donge, and drinke their owne stale with you? 1548 Recorde Urin. Physick xi. 89 The stale of Camels and Goats..is good for them that have the dropsie. 1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus O iij b, Or annoint thy selfe with the stale of a mule. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. iv. 62 Thou did'st drinke The stale of Horses. 1662 Gerbier Principles 34 That his Stall doth not remain under him. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 242 Mice and Weasels by their poysonous Stale infect the Trees so, that they produce Worms. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 122 Sheep, whose Dung and Stale is of most Virtue in the Nourishment of all Trees. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 51 The stale of mares. |
b. to have a rod in stale (? Anglo-Irish): = to have a rod in pickle: see pickle n.1 1 b.
| 1837–8 Keegan Leg. & Poems (1907) 65, I have a rod in stale for him ever since the night he offinded me at the wake. |
2. blood-stale, stale-foul a disease (see quot.).
| 1816 L. Towne Farmer & Grazier's Guide 21 The Blood-Stale in Horses, the Stale-foul, in Oxen, and the Red Water in Sheep, are Diseases..derived from very similar causes. |
▪ VI. stale, n.6 Chess.
(steɪl)
[a. AF. estale, perh. vbl. n. f. estaler stale v.3]
= stalemate.
| 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. clxix, ‘Off mate?’ quod sche..‘thou has fundin stale This mony day’. c 1470 MS. Ashmole 344 lf. 18 b, Þan draw thi fers in to e & þi other fers in to f as nye thy knyght as thow mayst savyng stale. 1591 Florio 2nd Fruites 75 It is no check-mate, but a stale. 1625 Bacon Ess., Of Boldness (Arb.) 519 They stand at a stay; Like a Stale at Chesse, where it is no Mate, but yet the Game cannot stirre. 1647 Ward Simple Cobler 57 When the Parliament shall give you a mate, though but a Stale. 1656 Beale Biochimo's Roy. Game Chess-play 13 A stale is given when one King hath lost all his men and hath but one place left to fly into, if then the adversary bar him of that place without checking him, so that he being now out of check cannot remove but into check, it is then a stale, and he that giveth it to the distressed King loseth the Game. |
▪ VII. stale, n.7 colloq.
(steɪl)
[Absol. use of stale a.1]
A stale cake or loaf of bread, etc.
| 1874 Hardy Madding Crowd II. iii. 39, I went to Riggs's batty-cake shop, and asked 'em for a penneth of the cheapest and nicest stales, that were all but bluemouldy, but not quite. 1937 DeArmond & Graf Route Sales Managem. 4 The man who sells and delivers bread to the grocer must remove the stales each day. 1937 ‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier i. i. 15 Frayed-looking sweet-cakes..bought as ‘stales’ from the baker. |
▪ VIII. stale, a.1
(steɪl)
[Of obscure history, but prob. ultimately f. the Teut. root *sta- to stand. Cf. Flem. stel in the same sense, said of beer and urine (Kilian; still used in WFlem., see De Bo).]
† 1. Of malt liquor, mead, wine: That has stood long enough to clear; freed from dregs or lees; hence, old and strong. Obs.
| c 1300 K. Horn 383 (Laud) Bi forn þe king abenche Red win to schenche And after mete stale Boþe win and ale. c 1386 Chaucer Sir Thopas 52 Notemuge to putte in ale, Whether it be moyste or stale. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. lvii. (1495) 896 Yf meth is well sod and stale it is lykynge to the taste. a 1400 Stockh. Medical MS. in Anglia XVIII. 310 Good reed wyn þat be stale. 1421 Cov. Leet Bk. (1907) 25 When hit [ale] is good and stale. 1483 Cath. Angl. 358/1 Sstale As Ale, defecatus. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 367 And ye will gyve me a syppet Of your stale ale. a 1553 Udall Royster D. i. iii. (Arb.) 19 Where good stale ale is will drinke no water I trust. 1586 Cogan Haven Health ccxviii. 221 Good ale..must be..made of good corne, well sodden, stale and well purged. 1709 Addison Tatler No. 162 ¶1, I daily live in a very comfortable Affluence of Wine, Stale Beer, Hungary Water, Beef, Books, and Marrow-Bones. 1743 Lond. & Country Brew. iv. (ed. 2) 294 To turn Ale into stale Beer presently. |
| fig. 1709 O. Dykes Eng. Prov. & Refl. (ed. 2) Pref. 16 Proverbs scatter'd through all the Works of the Learned, like Salt, to give them a Relish, and to make them keep stale. |
2. That has lost its freshness; altered by keeping. a. of food or drink.
‘Usually in disparaging sense; but when said of bread it is the ordinary opposite of new, without necessarily implying inferiority.’ N.E.D.
| 1530 Palsgr. 325/2 Stale as breed or drinke is, rassis. Stale as meate is that begynneth to savoure, viel. c 1550 Wyll of Deuill (c 1825) C 2 b, New freshe blood to ouersprinkle their stale mete that it may seme..newly kylled. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 386 Gestes and fish..are euer stale within three dayes. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. iv. 11 That stole [read stale] old Mouse-eaten dry cheese, Nestor. 1726 Swift Gulliver ii. v, To let out the Water when it began to grow stale. 1727 ― Past. Dial. Richm. Hill 53 To cry the Bread was stale, and mutter Complaints against the Royal Butter. 1759 R. Brown Compl. Farmer 78 [A chicken will be] tender and green in the vent if stale. 1829 Chapters Phys. Sci. 251 The egg becomes stale or addled. 1845 James Arrah Neil ii, I would as soon..eat stale cabbage. 1878 M. L. Holbrook Hygiene Brain 61 The bread should be stale. 1888 F. Hume Mme. Midas i. Prol., His companion collected the stale biscuits which had fallen out of the bag. |
b. of urine, manure, straw, etc.
| 1577 Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 83 Stale vrine. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. 255 Where dung is made use of, it must be very stale and rotten. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. xi, An early public-house, haunted by unsavoury smells of musty hay and stale straw. |
† c. of wounds. Obs.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 495 A very excellent remedy for the curing of wounds which are old and stale, and ful of putrifaction. |
d. Agric.
| a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) Gloss., Fallows-stale, ground that has been ploughed some time, and lies in fallow. 1764 Museum Rust. II. 306 Lime would do very little or no good on stale ploughed lands. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 590 So that the crop may be put in upon a stale furrow. |
3. a. fig. Of an immaterial thing: That has lost its freshness, novelty, or interest; hackneyed, worn out, out of date; effete. (Frequent in Shakes.)
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 95 Better is..be it new or stale, A harmelesse lie, than a harmefull true tale. 1579 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 60 Doist thou smyle to reade this stale and beggarlye stuffe. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. v. 55 A prouerbe neuer stale in thriftie minde. 1602 ― Ham. i. ii. 133 How weary, stale, flat, and vnprofitable Seemes to me all the vses of this world? 1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II) 16 A novelty that will quickly grow stale. 1716 Addison Freeholder No. 9 ¶11 The Parliament of Great Britain, against whom you bring a stale accusation which has been used by every minority in the memory of man. 1780 F. Burney Lett. June, I hardly know what to tell you that won't be stale news. 1822 Lamb Elia i. Distant Corresp., A two-days-old newspaper. You resent the stale thing as an affront. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. (1892) I. iii. 100 The commonplaces in which Pope takes such infinite delight have become very stale for us. 1880 Macm. Mag. No. 246. 518 She thought her chances of marriage at home were grown rather stale. 1908 Outlook 14 Nov. 651/1 When the memory of the last few weeks has grown stale. |
b. Law. Of a claim or demand: That has been allowed to lie dormant for an unreasonable time.
| 1769 Blackstone Comm. iv. xv. 211 The jury will rarely give credit to a stale complaint. 1884 Law Rep. 26 Chanc. Div. 119 The claims of the Plaintiffs had been barred..by the rules against stale claims. Ibid. 27 Chanc. Div. 530 Obligations..which he would never have incurred if he had had any reason to believe that this stale claim would be prosecuted. |
c. Comm. That has remained inactive for a considerable time; (of a cheque) out-of-date.
| 1889 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 297/2 Stale bear,..a man who has sold stock which he does not possess, and has not bought it back. A bear who has been short of stock for a considerable period... Stale bull, a man who has held stock for a long period without profit. 1901 C. Duguid How to read Money Article viii. 37 The time comes when the ‘bull campaign’ turns into a ‘stale bull account’, that is, when the bulls are anxious to sell, even at a loss. 1901 Business Terms & Phrases (ed. 2) 199 Stale cheque,..a cheque which has remained unpaid for some considerable time. 1930 M. Clark Home Trade 271 Stale bulls are those who come to the conclusion that they have waited long enough for a rise in price and who, therefore, sell out. 1939 F. Lee City Page iii. 61 Eventually every crossed cheque has to be paid into a banker's account, usually within a time limit of six months; otherwise the cheque is ‘stale’. 1957 Clark & Gottfried Dict. Business & Finance (1967) 332/2 Stale,..in business, out of date, or outstanding for a long time. 1979 F. E. Perry Dict. Banking 11/2 A banker receiving a cheque antedated by six months or more for payment would regard it as ‘stale’. |
† 4. a. Of persons: Past the prime of life; having lost the vigour or attractiveness of youth. Of a bachelor or spinster: Past the fitting season for marriage. Obs.
| c 1580 J. Jeffere Bugbears i. ii. 108 in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. XCVIII. 309 Rosimunda..hathe an vncle a stale batcheler. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 19/1 Virgo exoleta,..an old stale maide past mariage. 1589 Nashe Martin Marprelate Wks. (Grosart) I. 108 Therein they are like to a stale Curtizan. 1598 Hakluyt Voy. I. 99 Somtimes their maids are very stale before they be maried: for their parents alwaies keep them till they can sel them. 1609 Rowlands Dr. Merrie-man 10 An old stale Widdower, quite past the best. a 1643 Cartwright Siedge i. iv, I'm for your tender Maidenheads: I would not Venture my self with a stale Virgin, or A season'd Widow for a Kingdom. 1711 Ramsay On Maggy Johnstoun xiv, She was..Right free of care, or toil, or strife, Till she was stale. 1742 Short Dropsy in Phil. Trans. XLII. 226 In barren Women, and stale Maids, Tapping should be very cautiously undertaken. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. l. (1760) II. 136, I talked in raptures to the stale governante. 1858 Hogg Life Shelley I. 176, I found only two stale women; a stale middle-aged woman who acted as waiter and chambermaid, and an older and still staler woman, the landlady. |
† b. of attributes. Obs.
| 1612 Two Noble K. v. i. 91 That may'st..induce Stale gravitie to daunce. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 5 May (1815) 63 The rancour of stale maidenhood. |
5. a. Sport. Of an athlete, a racing animal, etc.: Out of condition through over-severe training or exertion too long continued. Phr. to go stale.
| 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports ii. i. vi. §7. 335 By this means the [horse's] legs are not made more stale than necessary. 1868 Field 4 July 15/1 In the third heat [rowing], Mair of Magdalen, easily beat Willan of Exeter, who seemed stale and gone off. 1885 Truth 28 May 853/2 Dame Agnes will probably be stale after her exertions in the Derby. 1889 D. C. Murray Dang. Catspaw 38 William, though a little stale, turned out to be a past master in the art. |
| transf. 1894 Nation (N.Y.) 22 Mar. 209/1 It sometimes happens that, in the strain of this part of the race [for Cambridge honours], the boy outgrows the brilliant precocity which put him ahead of his rivals, and emerges merely an ordinary young man with no further possibilities of use. This disaster is technically known as ‘going stale’. 1903 W. T. Stead in Rev. of Rev. May 574 (Cent. Suppl.) In 1892, the Unionist administration having gone stale, it was turned out. |
b. Of a bird: See quot.
| 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 301/1 (Decoys) Stale birds, fowl that have frequently visited the decoy, but have lost interest in the actions of the dog. |
6. Comb.
| 1963 J. N. Harris Weird World Wes Beattie (1964) xv. 179 This check came along... It was *stale-dated, see? I mean it had been drawn the previous September, and this was about May. |
| 1823 Egan Grose's Dict. Vulgar T. s.v., A person is said to be *stale drunk when they feel languid after a night's debauch. |
| 1641 Milton Animadv. Wks. 1851 III. 234 O *stale-growne piety! O Gospell rated as cheap as thy Master, at thirtypence. |
| 1819 Shelley Cenci iii. i. 159 Lay all bare So that my unpolluted fame should be With vilest gossips a *stale mouthèd story. |
| 1936 E. Wilson Travels in Two Democracies 286 They carried me into a *stale-smelling building. 1973 T. Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow i. 24 The city around them at once a big desolate ice-box, stale-smelling. |
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 92 Often reiterating hys *stale-worne note. |
▪ IX. † stale, a.2 Chess. Obs.
[f. stale n.6]
Stalemated.
| c 1470 MS. Ashmole 344 lf. 21 b. Then drawith he & is stale. |
▪ X. stale, v.1 Obs. exc. arch. and dial.
(steɪl)
Also 5 Sc. stal, 6 staale, Sc. stail; 7–9 rare stall.
[Proximate source uncertain; perh. a. OF. estaler (once in Godef., with erroneous explanation) = It. stallare; either adopted from, or the source of, the Teut. word which appears as Du., LG., HG. stallen (MHG. in 14th c.), Sw. stalla, Da. stalle, to make water (said of horses).
Attempts have been made to identify the Teut. word with G. (Du., etc.) stallen to place in a stall, be lodged in a stall, also to come to a stand (see stall n. and v.). For objections to these explanations see Grimm s.v. stallen.]
1. intr. To urinate, said esp. of horses or cattle.
| 14.. Lawis Gild x. in Anc. Laws Scot. (Burgh Rec. Soc.) 68 Gif ony stal in the yet of the gilde..he sall gif iiijd. to the mendis. c 1450 Merlin xxvii. 526 He turned be-side the wey to make his horse stale. 1530 Palsgr. 732/1 Tary a whyle, your hors wyll staale. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 206 Bringing in his great horse..into his Banquetting-house; to dung and stale amongst his guests. 1614 B. Jonson Bart. Fair i. iv, Why a pox o' your boxe, once again: let your little wife stale in it, and she will. c 1630 in Law's Memor. (1818) Introd. p. lv, He should pluck up a nettle by the root..and stale upon it three severall mornings. 1663 Killigrew Parson's Wedd. i. iii, I wonder he [the knight's son] doth not go on all four too, and hold up his Leg when he stales. 1735 Burdon Pocket-Farrier 22 Sometimes a Horse cannot stall, and will be in great Pain. 1795 T. Maurice Hindostan i. ix. (1820) I. 285 Observing the baboon to stale twelve times in the day. 1812 Skellett in H. Stephens Bk. Farm (1844) II. 477 She will be frequently dunging, stalling, and blaring. 1886 W. Somerset Word-bk., Stale, to void urine—of horses only. 1891 Hardy Tess lii, While the horses stood to stale and breathe themselves. 1903 Kipling Five Nations (1903) 150 Cattle-dung where fuel failed; Water where the mules had staled; And sackcloth for their raiment. |
† 2. trans. To pass (blood) in the urine. Obs.
| ? a 1550 Droichis Part of Play 62 in Dunbar's Poems (S.T.S.) 316 Scho tuke the gravall and staild Craig Gorth. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 132 Anatolius approued beane meale sifted and sod with Harts marrow to be giuen to a horse which stalleth blood. 1647 J. C[leveland] Char. Lond.-Diurn. 2 For it casts the water of the State, ever since it staled bloud. |
▪ XI. stale, v.2
(steɪl)
Also 6 Sc. stail, (7 staule).
[f. stale a.1]
1. trans. To render (beer or ale) ‘stale’.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 472/1 Stalyn, or make stale drynke, defeco. 1616 B. Jonson Devil an Ass i. i, You haue some plot, now, Vpon a tonning of Ale, to stale the yest. 1743 Lond. & Country Brew. iv. (ed. 2) 294 Like old October Beer staled through Time. 1826 Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 106 A stock of old porter should be kept, sufficient for staling the consumption of twelve months. |
b. intr. Of beer: to become ‘stale’ or old.
| 1742 Lond. & Country Brew. i. (ed. 4) 64 The Drink from that Time flattens and stales. 1743 Ibid. iv. (ed. 2) 303 Secure a Butt of Beer from staling too soon. |
2. trans. To render stale, out of date or uninteresting; to diminish interest in.
| 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. Induct., Ile goe tell all the argument of his play aforehand, and so stale his inuention to the auditorie before it come forth. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iv. i. 38 Which out of vse, and stal'de by other men, Begin his fashion. 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. ii. ii. 240 Age cannot wither her, nor custome stale Her infinite variety. a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Q. Corinth i. iii, Ile not stale them By giving up their characters, but leave you To make your own discoveries. 1768 Woman of Honor I. 10 Shame, that great engine of education, she employed with..attention not to stale its effect. 1822 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Detached Thoughts, It may be, that the latter [names, Milton and Shakespeare] are more staled and rung upon in common discourse. 1863 W. W. Story Roba di Roma i. i. 7 Pictures and statues have been staled by copy and description. 1914 Marett in Edin. Rev. Apr. 397 Perhaps Dr. Frazer's theories have become for himself a little staled by dint of repetition. |
† b. To lower (oneself, one's dignity) in estimation by excessive familiarity. Obs.
| 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. ii. i. 57 Not content To stale himselfe in all societies, He makes my house here common as a mart. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. iii. 201 This..right valiant Lord, Must not so staule his Palme. 1843 Lytton Last Bar. ii. ii, Henry the Fourth staled not his majesty to consultations with the mayor of his city. |
c. intr. To grow stale; get out of fashion, become uninteresting.
| 1897 Pall Mall Gaz. 10 Nov. 2/3 The malicious tit-bit which he was treasuring with such eager anticipation would only stale by further delay. 1893 Q. (Quiller-Couch) Delect. Duchy 325 Philanthropy was beginning to stale. |
† 3. Sc. To affect with loathing or satiety. [Perh. another word: cf. stall v.]
| 1709 Wodrow Corr. (1842) I. 49 The abjuration oath..will..stale a great many that we might otherwise have depended upon as friendly parties to us. 1717 E. Erskine Serm. Wks. (1791) 50/1 They have got so much of Christ as to be staled of his company. |
▪ XII. stale, v.3 Chess. rare.
Also 6 Sc. stail.
[Perh. a. AF. estaler, ? of English origin: cf. stall v.]
a. trans. = stalemate v.
| c 1470 MS. Ashmole 344 lf. 7 He shall stale þe black kyng in the pointe þer the crosse standith. Ibid. lf. 17 Drau thou ther as thy pon stode, ande stale hym. 1903 H. J. R. Murray in Brit. Chess. Mag. 283 In China, however, a player who stales his opponent's King, wins the game. |
b. intr. To undergo stalemate.
| a 1585 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 216 For vnder cure I gat sik chek, Quhilk I micht nocht remuif nor nek, Bot eyther stail or mait. |
▪ XIII. † stale, v.4 Obs. rare—1.
[f. stale n.2]
trans. To put rungs in (a ladder).
| 1492 in Archæol. Cant. XVI. 304 For stalyng of the ladders of the Churche xx d. |
▪ XIV. † stale, v.5 Obs. rare.
[f. stale n.3]
trans. To decoy, lure.
| 1557 Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 198 The eye..Doth serue to stale her here and there where she doth come and go. |
▪ XV. stale
see stall n.1, n.4; obs. pa. tense of steal.