Chapter 89

2. A small, quick stream; a jet. Bacon.

Squirt"er (?), n. One who, or that which, squirts.

Squir"y (?), n. [See Squiery.] The body of squires, collectively considered; squirarchy. [Obs.]

The flower of chivalry and squiry.

Ld. Berbers.

Squitch" grass` (?). (Bot.) Quitch grass.

Squi*tee" (?), n. [From the N. American Indian name.] (Zoöl.) The squeteague; -- called also squit.

Stab (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stabbed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Stabbing.] [Cf. OD. staven to fix, fasten, fr. stave, staff, a staff, rod; akin to G. stab a staff, stick, E. staff; also Gael. stob to stab, as n., a stake, a stub. Cf. Staff.] 1. To pierce with a pointed weapon; to wound or kill by the thrust of a pointed instrument; as, to stab a man with a dagger; also, to thrust; as, to stab a dagger into a person.

2. Fig.: To injure secretly or by malicious falsehood or slander; as, to stab a person's reputation.

Stab, v. i. 1. To give a wound with a pointed weapon; to pierce; to thrust with a pointed weapon.

None shall dare With shortened sword to stab in closer war.

Dryden.

2. To wound or pain, as if with a pointed weapon.

She speaks poniards, and every word stabs.

Shak.

To stab at, to offer or threaten to stab; to thrust a pointed weapon at.

Stab, n. 1. The thrust of a pointed weapon.

2. A wound with a sharp-pointed weapon; as, to fall by the stab an assassin. Shak.

3. Fig.: An injury inflicted covertly or suddenly; as, a stab given to character.

||Sta"bat Ma"ter (?). [L., the mother was standing.] A celebrated Latin ||hymn, beginning with these words, commemorating the sorrows of the ||mother of our Lord at the foot of the cross. It is read in the Mass ||of the Sorrows of the Virgin Mary, and is sung by Catholics when ||making "the way of the cross" (Via Crucis). See Station, 7 (c).

Stab"ber (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, stabs; a privy murderer.

2. (Naut.) A small marline spike; a pricker.

Stab"bing*ly (?), adv. By stabbing; with intent to injure covertly. Bp. Parker.

Sta*bil"i*ment (?), n. [L. stabilimentum, fr. stabilire to make firm ir stable, fr. stabilis. See Stable, a.] The act of making firm; firm support; establishment. [R.] Jer. taylor.

They serve for stabiliment, propagation, and shade.

Derham.

Sta*bil"i*tate (?), v. t. [LL. stabilitatus, p. p. of stabilitare to make stable.] To make stable; to establish. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.

Sta*bil"i*ty (?), n. [L. stabilitas; cf. F. stabilité. See Stable, a.] 1. The state or quality of being stable, or firm; steadiness; firmness; strength to stand without being moved or overthrown; as, the stability of a structure; the stability of a throne or a constitution.

2. Steadiness or firmness of character, firmness of resolution or purpose; the quality opposite to fickleness, irresolution, or inconstancy; constancy; steadfastness; as, a man of little stability, or of unusual stability.

3. Fixedness; -- as opposed to fluidity.

Since fluidness and stability are contary qualities.

Boyle.

Syn. -- Steadiness; stableness; constancy; immovability; firmness.

Sta"ble (?), a. [OE. estable, F. stable, fr. L. stabilis, fr. stare to stand. See Stand, v. i. and cf. Establish.] 1. Firmly established; not easily moved, shaken, or overthrown; fixed; as, a stable government.

In this region of chance, . . . where nothing is stable.

Rogers.

2. Steady in purpose; constant; firm in resolution; not easily diverted from a purpose; not fickle or wavering; as, a man of stable character.

And to her husband ever meek and stable.

Chaucer.

3. Durable; not subject to overthrow or change; firm; as, a stable foundation; a stable position.

Stable equibrium (Mech.), the kind of equilibrium of a body so placed that if disturbed it returns to its former position, as in the case when the center of gravity is below the point or axis of support; -- opposed to unstable equilibrium, in which the body if disturbed does not tend to return to its former position, but to move farther away from it, as in the case of a body supported at a point below the center of gravity. Cf. Neutral equilibrium, under Neutral.

Syn. -- Fixed; steady; constant; abiding; strong; durable; firm.

Sta"ble, v. t. To fix; to establish. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Sta"ble, n. [OF. estable, F. étable, from L. stabulum, fr. stare to stand. See Stand, v. i.] A house, shed, or building, for beasts to lodge and feed in; esp., a building or apartment with stalls, for horses; as, a horse stable; a cow stable. Milton.

Stable fly (Zoöl.), a common dipterous fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) which is abundant about stables and often enters dwellings, especially in autumn. These files, unlike the common house files, which they resemble, bite severely, and are troublesome to horses and cattle.

Sta"ble, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stabled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Stabling (?).] To put or keep in a stable.

Sta"ble, v. i. To dwell or lodge in a stable; to dwell in an inclosed place; to kennel. Milton.

{ Sta"ble*boy` (?), Sta"ble*man (?) }, n. A boy or man who attends in a stable; a groom; a hostler.

Sta"ble*ness, n. The quality or state of being stable, or firmly established; stability.

Sta"bler (?), n. A stable keeper. De Foe.

Sta"ble stand` (?). (O.Eng. Law) The position of a man who is found at his standing in the forest, with a crossbow or a longbow bent, ready to shoot at a deer, or close by a tree with greyhounds in a leash ready to slip; -- one of the four presumptions that a man intends stealing the king's deer. Wharton.

Sta"bling (?), n. 1. The act or practice of keeping horses and cattle in a stable.

2. A building, shed, or room for horses and cattle.

Stab"lish (?), v. t. [Aphetic form of establish.] To settle permanently in a state; to make firm; to establish; to fix. [Obs.] 2 Sam. vii. 13.

Stab"lish*ment (?), n. Establishment. [Obs.]

Sta"bly (?), adv. In a stable manner; firmly; fixedly; steadily; as, a government stably settled.

Stab`u*la"tion (?), n. [L. stabulatio, fr. stabulari to stable cattle, fr. stabulum. See Stable, n.] 1. The act of stabling or housing beasts.

2. A place for lodging beasts; a stable. [Obs.]

||Stac*ca"to (?), a. [It., p. p. of staccere, equivalent to distaccare. ||See Detach.] 1. (Mus.) Disconnected; separated; distinct; -- a ||direction to perform the notes of a passage in a short, distinct, and ||pointed manner. It is opposed to legato, and often indicated by heavy ||accents written over or under the notes, or by dots when the ||performance is to be less distinct and emphatic.

2. Expressed in a brief, pointed manner.

Staccato and peremptory [literary criticism].

G. Eliot.

Stack (?), a. [Icel. stakkr; akin to Sw. stack, Dan. stak. Sf. Stake.] 1. A large pile of hay, grain, straw, or the like, usually of a nearly conical form, but sometimes rectangular or oblong, contracted at the top to a point or ridge, and sometimes covered with thatch.

But corn was housed, and beans were in the stack.

Cowper.

2. A pile of poles or wood, indefinite in quantity.

Against every pillar was a stack of billets above a man's height.

Bacon.

3. A pile of wood containing 108 cubic feet. [Eng.]

4. (Arch.) (a) A number of flues embodied in one structure, rising above the roof. Hence: (b) Any single insulated and prominent structure, or upright pipe, which affords a conduit for smoke; as, the brick smokestack of a factory; the smokestack of a steam vessel.

Stack of arms (Mil.), a number of muskets or rifles set up together, with the bayonets crossing one another, forming a sort of conical self-supporting pile.

Stack, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stacked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Stacking.] [Cf. Sw. stacka, Dan. stakke. See Stack, n.] To lay in a conical or other pile; to make into a large pile; as, to stack hay, cornstalks, or grain; to stack or place wood.

To stack arms (Mil.), to set up a number of muskets or rifles together, with the bayonets crossing one another, and forming a sort of conical pile.

<! p. 1399 !>

Stack"age (?), n. 1. Hay, gray, or the like, in stacks; things stacked. [R.]

2. A tax on things stacked. [R.] Holinshed.

Stack"et (?), n. [Cf. F. estacade and E. stockade.] (Mil.) A stockade. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

Stack"-guard` (?), n. A covering or protection, as a canvas, for a stack.

Stack"ing, a. & n. from Stack.

Stacking band, Stacking belt, a band or rope used in binding thatch or straw upon a stack. -- Stacking stage, a stage used in building stacks.

Stack"stand` (?), n. A staging for supporting a stack of hay or grain; a rickstand.

Stack"yard` (?), n. A yard or inclosure for stacks of hay or grain. A. Smith.

Stac"te (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?;, strictly fem. of &?; cozing out in drops, fr. &?; to drop.] One of the sweet spices used by the ancient Jews in the preparation of incense. It was perhaps an oil or other form of myrrh or cinnamon, or a kind of storax. Ex. xxx. 34.

Stad"dle (?), n. [AS. staðol, sraðul, a foundation, firm seat; akin to E. stand. &radic;163. See Stand, v. i.] [Formerly written stadle.] 1. Anything which serves for support; a staff; a prop; a crutch; a cane.

His weak steps governing And aged limbs on cypress stadle stout.

Spenser.

2. The frame of a stack of hay or grain. [Eng.]

3. A row of dried or drying hay, etc. [Eng.]

4. A small tree of any kind, especially a forest tree.

In America, trees are called staddles from the time that they are three or four years old till they are six or eight inches in diameter, or more. This is also the sense in which the word is used by Bacon and Tusser.

Stad"dle, v. t. 1. To leave the staddles, or saplings, of, as a wood when it is cut. [R.] Tusser.

2. To form into staddles, as hay. [Eng.]

Stade (?), n. [Cf. F. stade.] A stadium. Donne.

Stade, n. [Cf. G. gestade shore.] A landing place or wharf. Knight.

Sta*dim"e*ter (?), n. [Stadium + -meter.] A horizontal graduated bar mounted on a staff, used as a stadium, or telemeter, for measuring distances.

||Sta"di*um (?), n.; pl. Stadia (#). [L., a stadium (in sense 1), from ||Gr. &?;.] 1. A Greek measure of length, being the chief one used for ||itinerary distances, also adopted by the Romans for nautical and ||astronomical measurements. It was equal to 600 Greek or 625 Roman ||feet, or 125 Roman paces, or to 606 feet 9 inches English. This was ||also called the Olympic stadium, as being the exact length of the ||foot-race course at Olympia. Dr. W. Smith.

2. Hence, a race course; especially, the Olympic course for foot races.

3. A kind of telemeter for measuring the distance of an object of known dimensions, by observing the angle it subtends; especially (Surveying), a graduated rod used to measure the distance of the place where it stands from an instrument having a telescope, by observing the number of the graduations of the rod that are seen between certain parallel wires (stadia wires) in the field of view of the telescope; -- also called stadia, and stadia rod.

Stadt"hold`er (?), n. [D. stadhouder; stad a city, a town + houder a holder.] Formerly, the chief magistrate of the United Provinces of Holland; also, the governor or lieutenant governor of a province.

{ Stadt"hold`er*ate (?), Stadt"hold`er*ship (?) }, n. The office or position of a stadtholder.

Sta*fette" (?), n. [Cf. G. stafette. See Estafet.] An estafet. [R.] arlyle.

Staff (?), n.; pl. Staves (&?; or &?;; 277) or Staffs (#) in senses 1-9, Staffs in senses 10, 11. [AS. stæf a staff; akin to LG. & D. staf, OFries stef, G. stab, Icel. stafr, Sw. staf, Dan. stav, Goth. stabs element, rudiment, Skr. sthpay to cause to stand, to place. See Stand, and cf. Stab, Stave, n.] 1. A long piece of wood; a stick; the long handle of an instrument or weapon; a pole or srick, used for many purposes; as, a surveyor's staff; the staff of a spear or pike.

And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar to bear it withal.

Ex. xxxviii. 7.

With forks and staves the felon to pursue.

Dryden.

2. A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a person walking; hence, a support; that which props or upholds. "Hooked staves." Piers Plowman.

The boy was the very staff of my age.

Shak.

He spoke of it [beer] in "The Earnest Cry," and likewise in the "Scotch Drink," as one of the staffs of life which had been struck from the poor man's hand.

Prof. Wilson.

3. A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office; as, a constable's staff.

Methought this staff, mine office badge in court, Was broke in twain.

Shak.

All his officers brake their staves; but at their return new staves were delivered unto them.

Hayward.

4. A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.

5. The round of a ladder. [R.]

I ascend at one [ladder] of six hundred and thirty-nine staves.

Dr. J. Campbell (E. Brown's Travels).

6. A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.

Cowley found out that no kind of staff is proper for an heroic poem, as being all too lyrical.

Dryden.

7. (Mus.) The five lines and the spaces on which music is written; -- formerly called stave.

8. (Mech.) An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.

9. (Surg.) The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.

10. [From Staff, 3, a badge of office.] (Mil.) An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution. See État Major.

11. Hence: A body of assistants serving to carry into effect the plans of a superintendant or manager; as, the staff of a newspaper.

Jacob's staff (Surv.), a single straight rod or staff, pointed and iron-shod at the bottom, for penetrating the ground, and having a socket joint at the top, used, instead of a tripod, for supporting a compass. -- Staff angle (Arch.), a square rod of wood standing flush with the wall on each of its sides, at the external angles of plastering, to prevent their being damaged. -- The staff of life, bread. "Bread is the staff of life." Swift. -- Staff tree (Bot.), any plant of the genus Celastrus, mostly climbing shrubs of the northern hemisphere. The American species (C. scandens) is commonly called bittersweet. See 2d Bittersweet, 3 (b). -- To set, or To put, up, or down, one's staff, to take up one's residence; to lodge. [Obs.]

Staf"fi*er (?), n. An attendant bearing a staff. [Obs.] "Staffiers on foot." Hudibras.

Staff"ish (?), a. Stiff; harsh. [Obs.] Ascham.

Staff"man (?), n.; pl. Staffmen (&?;). A workman employed in silk throwing.

Stag (?), n. [Icel. steggr the male of several animals; or a doubtful AS. stagga. Cf. Steg.] 1. (Zoöl.) (a) The adult male of the red deer (Cervus elaphus), a large European species closely related to the American elk, or wapiti. (b) The male of certain other species of large deer.

2. A colt, or filly; also, a romping girl. [Prov. Eng.]

3. A castrated bull; -- called also bull stag, and bull seg. See the Note under Ox.

4. (Stock Exchange) (a) An outside irregular dealer in stocks, who is not a member of the exchange. [Cant] (b) One who applies for the allotment of shares in new projects, with a view to sell immediately at a premium, and not to hold the stock. [Cant]

5. (Zoöl.) The European wren. [Prov. Eng.]

Stag beetle (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of lamellicorn beetles belonging to Lucanus and allied genera, especially L. cervus of Europe and L. dama of the United States. The mandibles are large and branched, or forked, whence the name. The lava feeds on the rotten wood of dead trees. Called also horned bug, and horse beetle. -- Stag dance, a dance by men only. [slang, U.S.] -- Stag hog (Zoöl.), the babiroussa. -- Stag-horn coral (Zoöl.), any one of several species of large branching corals of the genus Madrepora, which somewhat resemble the antlers of the stag, especially Madrepora cervicornis, and M. palmata, of Florida and the West Indies. -- Stag-horn fern (Bot.), an Australian and West African fern (Platycerium alcicorne) having the large fronds branched like a stag's horns; also, any species of the same genus. -- Stag-horn sumac (Bot.), a common American shrub (Rhus typhina) having densely velvety branchlets. See Sumac. -- Stag party, a party consisting of men only. [Slang, U. S.] -- Stag tick (Zoöl.), a parasitic dipterous insect of the family Hippoboscidæ, which lives upon the stag and in usually wingless. The same species lives also upon the European grouse, but in that case has wings.

Stag, v. i. (Com.) To act as a "stag", or irregular dealer in stocks. [Cant]

Stag, v. t. To watch; to dog, or keep track of. [Prov. Eng. or Slang] H. Kingsley.

Stage (?), n. [OF. estage, F. étage, (assumed) LL. staticum, from L. stare to stand. See Stand, and cf. Static.] 1. A floor or story of a house. [Obs.] Wyclif.

2. An elevated platform on which an orator may speak, a play be performed, an exhibition be presented, or the like.

3. A floor elevated for the convenience of mechanical work, or the like; a scaffold; a staging.

4. A platform, often floating, serving as a kind of wharf.

5. The floor for scenic performances; hence, the theater; the playhouse; hence, also, the profession of representing dramatic compositions; the drama, as acted or exhibited.

Knights, squires, and steeds, must enter on the stage.

Pope.

Lo! Where the stage, the poor, degraded stage, Holds its warped mirror to a gaping age.

C. Sprague.

6. A place where anything is publicly exhibited; the scene of any noted action or carrer; the spot where any remarkable affair occurs.

When we are born, we cry that we are come To this stage of fools.

Shak.

Music and ethereal mirth Wherewith the stage of air and earth did ring.

Miton.

7. The platform of a microscope, upon which an object is placed to be viewed. See Illust. of Microscope.

8. A place of rest on a regularly traveled road; a stage house; a station; a place appointed for a relay of horses.

9. A degree of advancement in a journey; one of several portions into which a road or course is marked off; the distance between two places of rest on a road; as, a stage of ten miles.

A stage . . . signifies a certain distance on a road.

Jeffrey.

He traveled by gig, with his wife, his favorite horse performing the journey by easy stages.

Smiles.

10. A degree of advancement in any pursuit, or of progress toward an end or result.

Such a polity is suited only to a particular stage in the progress of society.

Macaulay.

11. A large vehicle running from station to station for the accomodation of the public; a stagecoach; an omnibus. "A parcel sent you by the stage." Cowper.

I went in the sixpenny stage.

Swift.

12. (Biol.) One of several marked phases or periods in the development and growth of many animals and plants; as, the larval stage; pupa stage; zœa stage.

Stage box, a box close to the stage in a theater. -- Stage carriage, a stagecoach. -- Stage door, the actor's and workmen's entrance to a theater. -- Stage lights, the lights by which the stage in a theater is illuminated. -- Stage micrometer, a graduated device applied to the stage of a microscope for measuring the size of an object. -- Stage wagon, a wagon which runs between two places for conveying passengers or goods. -- Stage whisper, a loud whisper, as by an actor in a theater, supposed, for dramatic effect, to be unheard by one or more of his fellow actors, yet audible to the audience; an aside.

Stage (?), v. t. To exhibit upon a stage, or as upon a stage; to display publicly. Shak.

Stage"coach` (?), n. A coach that runs regularly from one stage, station, or place to another, for the conveyance of passengers.

Stage"coach`man (?), n.; pl. Stagecoachmen (&?;). One who drives a stagecoach.

Stage"house` (?), n. A house where a stage regularly stops for passengers or a relay of horses.

Stage"ly, a. Pertaining to a stage; becoming the theater; theatrical. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor.

Stage"play` (?), n. A dramatic or theatrical entertainment. Dryden.

Stage"play`er (?), n. An actor on the stage; one whose occupation is to represent characters on the stage; as, Garrick was a celebrated stageplayer.

Sta"ger (?), n. 1. A player. [R.] B. Jonson.

2. One who has long acted on the stage of life; a practitioner; a person of experience, or of skill derived from long experience. "You will find most of the old stagers still stationary there." Sir W. Scott.

3. A horse used in drawing a stage. [Colloq.]

Sta"ger*y (?), n. Exhibition on the stage. [Obs.]

Stage"-struck` (?), a. Fascinated by the stage; seized by a passionate desire to become an actor.

Stag"-e`vil (?), n. (Far.) A kind of palsy affecting the jaw of a horse. Crabb.

Stag"gard (?), n. [From Stag.] (Zoöl.) The male red deer when four years old.

Stag"ger (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Staggered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Staggering.] [OE. stakeren, Icel. stakra to push, to stagger, fr. staka to punt, push, stagger; cf. OD. staggeren to stagger. Cf. Stake, n.] 1. To move to one side and the other, as if about to fall, in standing or walking; not to stand or walk with steadiness; to sway; to reel or totter.

Deep was the wound; he staggered with the blow.

Dryden.

2. To cease to stand firm; to begin to give way; to fail. "The enemy staggers." Addison.

3. To begin to doubt and waver in purposes; to become less confident or determined; to hesitate.

He [Abraham] staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief.

Rom. iv. 20.

Stag"ger, v. t. 1. To cause to reel or totter.

That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire That staggers thus my person.

Shak.

2. To cause to doubt and waver; to make to hesitate; to make less steady or confident; to shock.

Whosoever will read the story of this war will find himself much stagered.

Howell.

Grants to the house of Russell were so enormous, as not only to outrage economy, but even to stagger credibility.

Burke.

3. To arrange (a series of parts) on each side of a median line alternately, as the spokes of a wheel or the rivets of a boiler seam.

Stag"ger, n. 1. An unsteady movement of the body in walking or standing, as if one were about to fall; a reeling motion; vertigo; -- often in the plural; as, the stagger of a drunken man.

2. pl. (Far.) A disease of horses and other animals, attended by reeling, unsteady gait or sudden falling; as, parasitic staggers; appopletic or sleepy staggers.

3. pl. Bewilderment; perplexity. [R.] Shak.

Stomach staggers (Far.), distention of the stomach with food or gas, resulting in indigestion, frequently in death.

Stag"ger*bush` (?), n. (Bot.) An American shrub (Andromeda Mariana) having clusters of nodding white flowers. It grows in low, sandy places, and is said to poison lambs and calves. Gray.

Stag"ger*ing*ly, adv. In a staggering manner.

Stag"ger*wort` (?), n. (Bot.) A kind of ragwort (Senecio Jacobæa).

{ Stag"-horn` co"ral (?), Stag"-horn` fern` (?), etc.} See under Stag.

Stag"-horned` (?), a. (Zoöl.) Having the mandibles large and palmate, or branched somewhat like the antlers of a stag; -- said of certain beetles.

Stag"hound` (?), n. (Zoöl.) A large and powerful hound formerly used in hunting the stag, the wolf, and other large animals. The breed is nearly extinct.

Sta"ging (?), n. A structure of posts and boards for supporting workmen, etc., as in building.

2. The business of running stagecoaches; also, the act of journeying in stagecoaches.

Stag"i*rite (?), n. A native of, or resident in, Stagira, in ancient Macedonia; especially, Aristotle. [Written also Stagyrite.]

Stag"nan*cy (?), n. State of being stagnant.

Stag"nant (?), a. [L. stagnans, -antis, p. pr. of stagnare. See Stagnate.] 1. That stagnates; not flowing; not running in a current or steam; motionless; hence, impure or foul from want of motion; as, a stagnant lake or pond; stagnant blood in the veins.

2. Not active or brisk; dull; as, business in stagnant.