Definition of Stale

1. Verb. Urinate, of cattle and horses.


2. Adjective. Lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age. "The beer was stale"

3. Adjective. Lacking originality or spontaneity; no longer new. "Stale news"
Exact synonyms: Cold, Dusty, Moth-eaten
Similar to: Unoriginal
Derivative terms: Staleness

Definition of Stale

1. n. The stock or handle of anything; as, the stale of a rake.

2. a. Vapid or tasteless from age; having lost its life, spirit, and flavor, from being long kept; as, stale beer.

3. v. t. To make vapid or tasteless; to destroy the life, beauty, or use of; to wear out.

4. v. i. To make water; to discharge urine; -- said especially of horses and cattle.

5. n. That which is stale or worn out by long keeping, or by use.

6. n. Something set, or offered to view, as an allurement to draw others to any place or purpose; a decoy; a stool pigeon.

Definition of Stale

1. Adjective. Having lost its freshness from age; (of food) still edible, but hard or unpleasant from age. ¹

2. Adjective. No longer new; no longer interesting; established; old; as, stale news, a stale joke, etc. ¹

3. Noun. (obsolete) A bird used as a decoy to trap other birds. ¹

4. Noun. (obsolete) Any trap or lure. ¹

5. Noun. (obsolete) A low class of prostitute (originally used as a decoy by other criminals). ¹

6. Noun. (obsolete) A person's position, especially in a battle-line. ¹

7. Noun. (obsolete) An ambush. ¹

8. Noun. (obsolete) A division of armed men posted in a specific place, either for an ambush or for other reasons. ¹

9. Noun. a handle of a broom or rake ¹

10. Noun. Urine, especially of horses or cattle. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Stale

1. not fresh [adj STALER, STALEST] : STALELY [adv] / to become stale [v STALED, STALING, STALES] - See also: stale

Lexicographical Neighbors of Stale

stalactites
stalactitic
stalactitical
stalactitiform
stalag
stalagmite
stalagmites
stalagmitic
stalagmitical
stalagmitically
stalagmometer
stalags
stalder
stalderite
stalders
stale metaphor
staled
stalely
stalemate
stalemated
stalemates
stalemating
staleness
stalenesses
staler
stales
stalest
staling
stalinise

Literary usage of Stale

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Dictionary of the English Language: In which the Words are Deduced from ...by Samuel Johnson by Samuel Johnson (1805)
"He ventures little for so great a stale. More. Th' increasing sound is borne to cither shore, And for their states the throwing natious fear. ..."

2. How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York by Jacob August Riis (1890)
"The stale-beer dives were the object of the raid. The policemen buckled their belts tighter, and with expressive grunts of disgust took up their march ..."

3. Methods of Practical Hygiene by Karl Bernhard Lehmann (1893)
"The hygienist must here ask above all things what was the nature of such stale bread ; if it consisted of refuse or mouldy fragments, the bread produced ..."

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