stale
Part of speech: adj
noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: agriculture
business
computing
engineering
finance
law
lifestyle
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
Etymology: From Middle English stale, from Old French estal (“fixed position, place”), but probably originally from Proto-Germanic *stāną (“to stand”): compare West Flemish stel in the same sense for ‘beer’ and ‘urine’.
Inflected forms:
form: staler
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: stalest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: stales
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: stales
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: staling
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: staled
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: staled
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: No longer fresh, in reference to food, urine, straw, wounds, etc.
pos: adj
examples: Near-synonyms: gone bad, spoiled; see also Thesaurus:rotten
Stale as breed or drinke is, rassis. Stale as meate is that begynneth to savoure, viel.
New freshe blood to ouersprinkle their stale mete that it may seme...newly kylled.
To her surprise, Abe did not come to collect her for the usual morning inhabitation session with Azure. She did not see him until almost noon, when he personally delivered lunch to her tent. Another stale roll and cup of water sat on the tray he carried. Abe hung his head, as abashed as Honorato had been. “This is all I could sneak in for now. I'll try to get more later.”
gloss: No longer fresh, new, or interesting, in reference to ideas and immaterial things; clichéd, hackneyed, dated.
pos: adj
examples: Better is...be it new or stale, A harmelesse lie, than a harmefull true tale.
Doist thou smyle to reade this stale and beggarlye stuffe.
How wary, stale, flat, and vnprofitable Seeme to me all the vses of this world?
A two-days-old newspaper. You resent the stale thing as an affront.
Rick would comment on the fact that he'd never had such bad coffee, not even the mud at his precinct. Mark would tell him to quit with the stale joke, already
gloss: Not new or recent; having been in place or in effect for some time.
pos: adj
tags: usually
examples: In most states, you can be ticketed for failing to clear the intersection, even if you are hemmed in by traffic. One good clue to a stale green light is the pedestrian signal.
gloss: Unreasonably long in coming, in reference to claims and actions.
pos: adj
examples: a stale affidavit
a stale demand
The jury will rarely give credit to a stale complaint.
gloss: Worn out, particularly due to age or over-exertion, in reference to athletes and animals in competition.
pos: adj
examples: By this means the [horse's] legs are not made more stale than necessary.
Dame Agnes will probably be stale after her exertions in the Derby.
gloss: Out of date, unpaid for an unreasonable amount of time, particularly in reference to checks.
pos: adj
examples: Stale cheque,...a cheque which has remained unpaid for some considerable time.
gloss: Of data: out of date; not synchronized with the newest copy.
pos: adj
examples: The bug was found to be caused by stale data in the cache.
gloss: No longer nubile or suitable for marriage; past one's prime.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: Near-synonyms: over the hill; see also Thesaurus:elderly
Rosimunda...hathe an vncle a stale batcheler.
In barren Women, and stale Maids, Tapping should be very cautiously undertaken.
gloss: Clear, free of dregs and lees; old and strong.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: The stronger Beere is divided into two parts (viz.) mild and stale; the first may ease a man of a drought, but the later is like water cast into a Smiths forge, and breeds more heartburning, and as rust eates into Iron, so overstale Beere gnawes auletholes in the entrales, or else my skill failes, and what I have written of it is to be held as a jest.
Particular care must be taken that the stale beer in which the isinglass is dissolved be perfectly clear and stale.
Is not that hard or stale beer mixed to give the porter the appearance of age at once, which formerly was allowed to be matured by time?
gloss: Fallow, in reference to land.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: Lime would do very little or no good on stale ploughed lands.
gloss: Something stale; a loaf of bread or the like that is no longer fresh.
pos: noun
tags: colloquial
examples: I went to Riggs's batty-cake shop, and asked 'em for a penneth of the cheapest and nicest stales, that were all but blue-mouldy, but not quite.
Frayed-looking sweet-cakes...bought as ‘stales’ from the baker.
gloss: To make stale; to cause to go out of fashion or currency; to diminish the novelty or interest of, particularly by excessive exposure or consumption.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Ile goe tell all the Argument of his Play aforehand, and so stale his Inuention to the Auditory before it come foorth.
Not content To stale himselfe in all societies, He makes my house as common as a Mart.
Age cannot wither her, nor custome stale Her infinite variety.
Pictures and statues have been staled by copy and description.
gloss: To become stale; to grow odious from excessive exposure or consumption.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: They have got so much of Christ as to be staled of his company.
Philanthropy was beginning to stale.
Vi's penchant for puns had struck him as cute when he first met her, but it had staled somewhat over the years.
gloss: To become stale; to grow unpleasant from age.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The Drink from that Time flattens and stales.
gloss: To make stale; to age in order to clear and strengthen (a drink, especially beer).
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: Stalyn, or make stale drynke, defeco.
A stock of old porter should be kept, sufficient for staling the consumption of twelve months.
Antonyms: fresh
Related words: go stale
stale drunk
Derived words: nonstale
overstale
stale-dated
stale drunk
stale-grown
stalely
stale-mouthed
staleness
stale read
stale-smelling
stale-worn
stool pigeon
unstale
antistaling
unstaled
unstaling
Translations: