Word: stall Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English stall, stalle, from Old English steall (“standing place, position”), from Proto-Germanic *stallaz, from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to place, put, post, stand”). Cognate with French étal, Italian stallo, German Stall, Swedish stall. Pronunciation: /stɔːl/, /stoːl/, /stɔl/, /stɑl/ 1. A compartment for a single animal in a stable or cattle shed. Labels: countable 2. A stable; a place for cattle. Example: His Fellow ſought what Lodging he could find: At laſt he found a Stall where oxen ſtood, And that he rather choſe than lie abroad. 3. A bench or table on which small articles of merchandise are exposed for sale. Example: Now he goes on, and ſings of fairs and ſhows, For ſtill new fairs before his eyes aroſe. How pedlars' ſtalls with glitt'ring toys are laid, The various fairings of the country maid. 4. A small open-fronted shop, for example in a market, food court, etc. Labels: countable Example: He looked in vain into the stalls for the butcher who had sold fresh meat twice a week, on market days [...] Example: Despite the swift backpedalling of the university, the original notice given to stall operators is suggestive of the potential existence of 'a growing English-speaking elite' that is 'happy to maintain the importance of the English language'. 5. A small partitioned space or roomlet used for a shower or a toilet. Example: Rabbit eases from the king-size bed, goes into their bathroom with its rose-colored one-piece Fiberglas tub and shower stall, and urinates into the toilet of a matching rose porcelain. 6. A seat in a theatre close to and (about) level with the stage; traditionally, a seat with arms, or otherwise partly enclosed, as distinguished from the benches, sofas, etc. Labels: countable 7. An Heathen altar, typically an indoor one, as contrasted with a more substantial outdoor harrow. Labels: Germanic Example: In a private rite, a ring is drawn on the ground around a harrow or before an indoor stall. Example: Some Asatruar kindreds call their indoor altars stalls and their outdoor altars harrows. 8. A seat in a church, especially one next to the chancel or choir, reserved for church officials and dignitaries. 9. A church office that entitles the incumbent to the use of a church stall. Example: He had battled like a man, and gotten a man's reward — no silver tea-pots or salvers, with flowery inscriptions setting forth his virtues and the appreciation of a genteel parish; no fat living or stall, for which he never looked, and didn't care; […] Example: 1910 [1840], Alexandre Dumas, père, translator not mentioned, Celebrated Crimes: Urbain Grandier, P. F. Collier edition, When he had been some months installed there as a priest-in-charge, he received a prebendal stall, thanks to the same patrons, in the collegiate church of Sainte-Croix. 10. A sheath to protect the finger. 11. The space left by excavation between pillars. 12. A parking stall; a space for a vehicle in a parking lot or parkade. 13. Synonym of stallsman (“an accomplice”). Labels: obsolete Example: The "super" or watch is passed to a stall, who hurries away, while the "dip" continues on the car. No sign of recognition passes between the members of the mob when at work.