Chapter 90

That gloomy slumber of the stagnant soul.

Johnson.

For him a stagnant life was not worth living.

Palfrey.

Stag"nant*ly, adv. In a stagnant manner.

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Stag"nate (stg"nt), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Stagnated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Stagnating.] [L. stagnatus, p. p. of stagnare to stagnate, make stagnant, from stagnum a piece of standing water. See Stank a pool, and cf. Stanch, v. t.] 1. To cease to flow; to be motionless; as, blood stagnates in the veins of an animal; hence, to become impure or foul by want of motion; as, air stagnates in a close room.

2. To cease to be brisk or active; to become dull or inactive; as, commerce stagnates; business stagnates.

Ready-witted tenderness . . . never stagnates in vain lamentations while there is any room for hope.

Sir W. Scott.

Stag"nate (?), a. Stagnant. [Obs.] "A stagnate mass of vapors." Young.

Stag*na"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. stagnation.] 1. The condition of being stagnant; cessation of flowing or circulation, as of a fluid; the state of being motionless; as, the stagnation of the blood; the stagnation of water or air; the stagnation of vapors.

2. The cessation of action, or of brisk action; the state of being dull; as, the stagnation of business.

Stag"worm (?), n. (Zoöl.) The larve of any species of botfly which is parasitic upon the stag, as Œstrus, or Hypoderma, actæon, which burrows beneath the skin, and Cephalomyia auribarbis, which lives in the nostrils.

Stahl"ian (?), a. Pertaining to, or taught by, Stahl, a German physician and chemist of the 17th century; as, the Stahlian theory of phlogiston.

Stahl"ian, n. A believer in, or advocate of, Stahlism.

{ Stahl"ism (?), Stahl"ian*ism (?) }, n. The Stahlian theory, that every vital action is function or operation of the soul.

Staid (std), imp. & p. p. of Stay.

Staid, a. [From Stay to stop.] Sober; grave; steady; sedate; composed; regular; not wild, volatile, or fanciful. "Sober and staid persons." Addison.

O'erlaid with black, staid Wisdom's hue.

Milton.

Syn. -- Sober; grave; steady; steadfast; composed; regular; sedate.

Staid"ly, adv. In a staid manner, sedately.

Staid"ness, n. The quality or state of being staid; seriousness; steadiness; sedateness; regularity; -- the opposite of wildness, or levity.

If sometimes he appears too gray, yet a secret gracefulness of youth accompanies his writings, though the staidness and sobriety of age wanting.

Dryden.

Syn. -- Sobriety; gravity; steadiness; regularity; constancy; firmness; stability; sedateness.

Stail (?), n. A handle, as of a mop; a stale. [Eng.]

Stain (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stained (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Staining.] [Abbrev. fr. distain.] 1. To discolor by the application of foreign matter; to make foul; to spot; as, to stain the hand with dye; armor stained with blood.

2. To color, as wood, glass, paper, cloth, or the like, by processess affecting, chemically or otherwise, the material itself; to tinge with a color or colors combining with, or penetrating, the substance; to dye; as, to stain wood with acids, colored washes, paint rubbed in, etc.; to stain glass.

3. To spot with guilt or infamy; to bring reproach on; to blot; to soil; to tarnish.

Of honor void, Of innocence, of faith, of purity, Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained.

Milton.

4. To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison.

She stains the ripest virgins of her age.

Beau. & Fl.

That did all other beasts in beauty stain.

Spenser.

Stained glass, glass colored or stained by certain metallic pigments fused into its substance, -- often used for making ornament windows.

Syn. -- To paint; dye; blot; soil; sully; discolor; disgrace; taint. -- Paint, Stain, Dye. These denote three different processes; the first mechanical, the other two, chiefly chemical. To paint a thing is so spread a coat of coloring matter over it; to stain or dye a thing is to impart color to its substance. To stain is said chiefly of solids, as wood, glass, paper; to dye, of fibrous substances, textile fabrics, etc.; the one, commonly, a simple process, as applying a wash; the other more complex, as fixing colors by mordants.

Stain, v. i. To give or receive a stain; to grow dim.

Stain, n. 1. A discoloration by foreign matter; a spot; as, a stain on a garment or cloth. Shak.

2. A natural spot of a color different from the gound.

Swift trouts, diversified with crimson stains.

Pope.

3. Taint of guilt; tarnish; disgrace; reproach.

Nor death itself can wholly wash their stains.

Dryden.

Our opinion . . . is, I trust, without any blemish or stain of heresy.

Hooker.

4. Cause of reproach; shame. Sir P. Sidney.

5. A tincture; a tinge. [R.]

You have some stain of soldier in you.

Shak.

Syn. -- Blot; spot; taint; pollution; blemish; tarnish; color; disgrace; infamy; shame.

Stain"er (?), n. 1. One who stains or tarnishes.

2. A workman who stains; as, a stainer of wood.

Stain"less, a. Free from stain; immaculate. Shak.

The veery care he took to keep his name Stainless, with some was evidence of shame.

Crabbe.

Syn. -- Blameless; spotless; faultless. See Blameless.

Stain"less*ly, adv. In a stainless manner.

Stair (?), n. [OE. steir, steyer, AS. st&?;ger, from &?;igan to ascend, rise. &radic;164. See Sty to ascend.] 1. One step of a series for ascending or descending to a different level; -- commonly applied to those within a building.

2. A series of steps, as for passing from one story of a house to another; -- commonly used in the plural; but originally used in the singular only. "I a winding stair found." Chaucer's Dream.

Below stairs, in the basement or lower part of a house, where the servants are. -- Flight of stairs, the stairs which make the whole ascent of a story. -- Pair of stairs, a set or flight of stairs. -- pair, in this phrase, having its old meaning of a set. See Pair, n., 1. -- Run of stars (Arch.), a single set of stairs, or section of a stairway, from one platform to the next. -- Stair rod, a rod, usually of metal, for holding a stair carpet to its place. -- Up stairs. See Upstairs in the Vocabulary.

Stair"case` (?), n. A flight of stairs with their supporting framework, casing, balusters, etc.

To make a complete staircase is a curious piece of architecture.

Sir H. Wotton.

Staircase shell. (Zoöl.) (a) Any scalaria, or wentletrap. (b) Any species of Solarium, or perspective shell.

Stair"head` (?), n. The head or top of a staircase.

Stair"way` (?), n. A flight of stairs or steps; a staircase. "A rude and narrow stairway." Moore.

Staith (?), n. [AS. stæ&?; a bank, shore, from the root of E. stead.] A landing place; an elevated staging upon a wharf for discharging coal, etc., as from railway cars, into vessels.

Staith"man (?), n. A man employed in weighing and shipping at a staith. [Eng.]

Stake (?), n. [AS. staca, from the root of E. stick; akin to OFries. & LG. stake, D. staak, Sw. stake, Dan. stage. See Stick, v. t., and cf. Estacade, Stockade.] 1. A piece of wood, usually long and slender, pointed at one end so as to be easily driven into the ground as a support or stay; as, a stake to support vines, fences, hedges, etc.

A sharpened stake strong Dryas found.

Dryden.

2. A stick inserted upright in a lop, eye, or mortise, at the side or end of a cart, a flat car, or the like, to prevent goods from falling off.

3. The piece of timber to which a martyr was affixed to be burned; hence, martyrdom by fire.

4. A small anvil usually furnished with a tang to enter a hole in a bench top, -- used by tinsmiths, blacksmiths, etc., for light work, punching upon, etc.

5. That which is laid down as a wager; that which is staked or hazarded; a pledge.

At stake, in danger; hazarded; pledged. "I see my reputation is at stake." Shak.

Stake, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Staked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Staking.] 1. To fasten, support, or defend with stakes; as, to stake vines or plants.

2. To mark the limits of by stakes; -- with out; as, to stake out land; to stake out a new road.

3. To put at hazard upon the issue of competition, or upon a future contingency; to wager; to pledge.

I'll stake yon lamb, that near the fountain plays.

Pope.

4. To pierce or wound with a stake. Spectator.

Stake"-driv`er (?), n. (Zoöl.) The common American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus); -- so called because one of its notes resembles the sound made in driving a stake into the mud. Called also meadow hen, and Indian hen.

Stake"head` (?), n. (Rope making) A horizontal bar on a stake, used for supporting the yarns which are kept apart by pins in the bar.

Stake"hold`er (?), n. The holder of a stake; one with whom the bets are deposited when a wager is laid.

Stak*tom"e*ter (?), n. [Gr. &?; falling by drops + -meter.] A drop measurer; a glass tube tapering to a small orifice at the point, and having a bulb in the middle, used for finding the number of drops in equal quantities of different liquids. See Pipette. Sir D. Brewster.

Stal (?), obs. imp. of Steal. Stole.

{ Sta*lac"tic (?), Sta*lac"tic*al (?) }, a. (Geol.) Stalactitic.

Sta*lac"ti*form (?), a. Like a stalactite; resembling a stalactite.

Sta*lac"tite (?), n.; pl. Stalactites (#). [Gr. &?; oozing out in drops, dropping, fr. &?; to drop: cf. F. stalactite.] (Geol.) (a) A pendent cone or cylinder of calcium carbonate resembling an icicle in form and mode of attachment. Stalactites are found depending from the roof or sides of caverns, and are produced by deposition from waters which have percolated through, and partially dissolved, the overlying limestone rocks. (b) In an extended sense, any mineral or rock of similar form and origin; as, a stalactite of lava.

||Stal`ac*ti"tes (?), n. [NL.] A stalactite. [Obs.] Woodward.

{ Stal`ac*tit"ic (?), Stal`ac*tit"ic*al (?) }, a. [Cf. F. stalactitique.] (Geol.) Of or pertaining to a stalactite; having the form or characters of a stalactite; stalactic.

Stal`ac*tit"i*form (?), a. Having the form of a stalactite; stalactiform.

Sta*lag"mite (?), n. [Gr. &?; that which drops, a drop, fr. &?; to drop; cf. F. stalagmite.] (Geol.) A deposit more or less resembling an inverted stalactite, formed by calcareous water dropping on the floors of caverns; hence, a similar deposit of other material.

{ Stal`ag*mit"ic (?), Stal`ag*mit"ic*al (?) }, a. Having the form or structure of stalagmites. -- Stal`ag*mit"ic*al*ly, adv.

Stal"der (?), n. [From the root of stall.] A wooden frame to set casks on. [Prov. Eng.]

Stale (?), n. [OE. stale, stele, AS. stæl, stel; akin to LG. & D. steel, G. stiel; cf. L. stilus stake, stalk, stem, Gr. &?; a handle, and E. stall, stalk, n.] The stock or handle of anything; as, the stale of a rake. [Written also steal, stele, etc.]

But seeling the arrow's stale without, and that the head did go No further than it might be seen.

Chapman.

Stale, a. [Akin to stale urine, and to stall, n.; probably from Low German or Scandinavian. Cf. Stale, v. i.] 1. Vapid or tasteless from age; having lost its life, spirit, and flavor, from being long kept; as, stale beer.

2. Not new; not freshly made; as, stele bread.

3. Having lost the life or graces of youth; worn out; decayed. "A stale virgin." Spectator.

4. Worn out by use or familiarity; having lost its novelty and power of pleasing; trite; common. Swift.

Wit itself, if stale is less pleasing.

Grew.

How weary, stale flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world!

Shak.

Stale affidavit (Law), an affidavit held above a year. Craig. -- Stale demand (Law), a claim or demand which has not been pressed or demanded for a long time.

Stale, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Staled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Staling.] To make vapid or tasteless; to destroy the life, beauty, or use of; to wear out.

Age can not wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety.

Shak.

Stale, v. i. [Akin to D. & G. stallen, Dan. stalle, Sw. stalla, and E. stall a stable. &?; 163. See Stall, n., and cf. Stale, a.] To make water; to discharge urine; -- said especially of horses and cattle. Hudibras.

Stale, n. [See Stale, a. & v. i.] 1. That which is stale or worn out by long keeping, or by use. [Obs.]

2. A prostitute. [Obs.] Shak.

3. Urine, esp. that of beasts. "Stale of horses." Shak.

Stale, n. [Cf. OF. estal place, position, abode, market, F. étal a butcher's stall, OHG. stal station, place, stable, G. stall (see Stall, n.); or from OE. stale theft, AS. stalu (see Steal, v. t.)] 1. Something set, or offered to view, as an allurement to draw others to any place or purpose; a decoy; a stool pigeon. [Obs.]

Still, as he went, he crafty stales did lay.

Spenser.

2. A stalking-horse. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

3. (Chess) A stalemate. [Obs.] Bacon.

4. A laughingstock; a dupe. [Obs.] Shak.

Stale"ly, adv. 1. In a state stale manner.

2. Of old; long since. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

Stale"mate` (?), n. (Chess) The position of the king when he can not move without being placed on check and there is no other piece which can be moved.

Stale"mate`, v. t. (Chess) To subject to a stalemate; hence, to bring to a stand.

Stale"ness, n. The quality or state of being stale.

Stalk (?), n. [OE. stalke, fr. AS. stæl, stel, a stalk. See Stale a handle, Stall.] 1. (Bot.) (a) The stem or main axis of a plant; as, a stalk of wheat, rye, or oats; the stalks of maize or hemp. (b) The petiole, pedicel, or peduncle, of a plant.

2. That which resembes the stalk of a plant, as the stem of a quill. Grew.

3. (Arch.) An ornament in the Corinthian capital resembling the stalk of a plant, from which the volutes and helices spring.

4. One of the two upright pieces of a ladder. [Obs.]

To climd by the rungs and the stalks.

Chaucer.

5. (Zoöl.) (a) A stem or peduncle, as of certain barnacles and crinoids. (b) The narrow basal portion of the abdomen of a hymenopterous insect. (c) The peduncle of the eyes of decapod crustaceans.

6. (Founding) An iron bar with projections inserted in a core to strengthen it; a core arbor.

Stalk borer (Zoöl.), the larva of a noctuid moth (Gortyna nitela), which bores in the stalks of the raspberry, strawberry, tomato, asters, and many other garden plants, often doing much injury.

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Stalk, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Stalked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Stalking.] [AS. stælcan, stealcian to go slowly; cf. stels high, elevated, Dan. stalke to stalk; probably akin to 1st stalk.] 1. To walk slowly and cautiously; to walk in a stealthy, noiseless manner; -- sometimes used with a reflexive pronoun. Shak.

Into the chamber he stalked him full still.

Chaucer.

[Bertran] stalks close behind her, like a witch's fiend, Pressing to be employed.

Dryden.

2. To walk behind something as a screen, for the purpose of approaching game; to proceed under clover.

The king . . . crept under the shoulder of his led horse; . . . "I must stalk," said he.

Bacon.

One underneath his horse, to get a shoot doth stalk.

Drayton.

3. To walk with high and proud steps; usually implying the affectation of dignity, and indicating dislike. The word is used, however, especially by the poets, to express dignity of step.

With manly mien he stalked along the ground.

Dryden.

Then stalking through the deep, He fords the ocean.

Addison.

I forbear myself from entering the lists in which he has long stalked alone and unchallenged.

Mericale.

Stalk (?), v. t. To approach under cover of a screen, or by stealth, for the purpose of killing, as game.

As for shooting a man from behind a wall, it is cruelly like to stalking a deer.

Sir W. Scott.

Stalk, n. A high, proud, stately step or walk.

Thus twice before, . . . With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch.

Shak.

The which with monstrous stalk behind him stepped.

Spenser.

Stalked (?), a. Having a stalk or stem; borne upon a stem.

Stalked barnacle (Zoöl.), a goose barnacle, or anatifer; -- called also stalk barnacle. -- Stalked crinoid (Zoöl.), any crinoid having a jointed stem.

Stalk"er (?), n. 1. One who stalks.

2. A kind of fishing net.

Stalk"-eyed` (?), a. (Zoöl.) Having the eyes raised on a stalk, or peduncle; -- opposed to sessile-eyed. Said especially of podophthalmous crustaceans.

Stalk-eyed crustaceans. (Zoöl.) See Podophthalmia.

Stalk"ing-horse (?), n. 1. A horse, or a figure resembling a horse, behind which a hunter conceals himself from the game he is aiming to kill.

2. Fig.: Something used to cover up a secret project; a mask; a pretense.

Hypocrisy is the devil's stalking-horse under an affectation of simplicity and religion.

L'Estrange.

How much more abominable is it to make of him [Christ] and religion a stalking-horse, to get and enjoy the world!

Bunyan.

Stalk"less, a. Having no stalk.

Stalk"y (?), a. Hard as a stalk; resembling a stalk.

At the top [it] bears a great stalky head.

Mortimer.

Stall (stl), n. [OE. stal, AS. steall, stall, a place, seat, or station, a stable; akin to D. & OHG. stal, G. & Sw. stall, Icel. stallr, Dan. stald, originally, a standing place; akin to G. stelle a place, stellen to place, Gr. ste`llein to set, place, send, and E. stand. &radic;163. See Stand, and cf. Apostle, Epistle, Forestall, Install, Stale, a. & v. i., 1st Stalk, Stallion, Still.] 1. A stand; a station; a fixed spot; hence, the stand or place where a horse or an ox is kept and fed; the division of a stable, or the compartment, for one horse, ox, or other animal. "In an oxes stall." Chaucer.

2. A stable; a place for cattle.

At last he found a stall where oxen stood.

Dryden.

3. A small apartment or shed in which merchandise is exposed for sale; as, a butcher's stall; a bookstall.

4. A bench or table on which small articles of merchandise are exposed for sale.

How peddlers' stalls with glittering toys are laid.

Gay.

5. A seat in the choir of a church, for one of the officiating clergy. It is inclosed, either wholly or partially, at the back and sides. The stalls are frequently very rich, with canopies and elaborate carving.

The dignified clergy, out of humility, have called their thrones by the names of stalls.

Bp. Warburton.

Loud the monks sang in their stalls.

Longfellow.

6. In the theater, a seat with arms or otherwise partly inclosed, as distinguished from the benches, sofas, etc.

7. (Mining) The space left by excavation between pillars. See Post and stall, under Post.

Stall reader, one who reads books at a stall where they are exposed for sale.

Cries the stall reader, "Bless us! what a word on A titlepage is this!"

Milton.

Stall, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stalled (stld); p. pr. & vb. n. Stalling.] [Cf. Sw. stalla, Dan. stalde.] 1. To put into a stall or stable; to keep in a stall or stalls; as, to stall an ox.

Where King Latinus then his oxen stalled.

Dryden.

2. To fatten; as, to stall cattle. [Prov. Eng.]

3. To place in an office with the customary formalities; to install. Shak.

4. To plunge into mire or snow so as not to be able to get on; to set; to fix; as, to stall a cart. Burton.

His horses had been stalled in the snow.

E. E. Hale.

5. To forestall; to anticipitate. [Obs.]

This not to be stall'd by my report.

Massinger.

6. To keep close; to keep secret. [Obs.]

Stall this in your bosom.

Shak.

Stall, v. i. [AS. steallian to have room. See Stall, n.] 1. To live in, or as in, a stall; to dwell. [Obs.]

We could not stall together In the whole world.

Shak.

2. To kennel, as dogs. Johnson.

3. To be set, as in mire or snow; to stick fast.

4. To be tired of eating, as cattle. [Prov. Eng.]

Stall"age (stl"j), n. [Cf. OF. estallage, of German origin. See Stall, n.] 1. (Eng. Law) The right of erecting a stalls in fairs; rent paid for a stall.

2. Dung of cattle or horses, mixed with straw. [Obs.]

Stal*la"tion (?), n. Installation. [Obs.]

Stalled (stld or stl"d), a. Put or kept in a stall; hence, fatted. "A stalled ox." Prov. xv. 17.

Stall"er (?), n. A standard bearer. Fuller.

Stall"-feed (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stall-fed (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Stall-feeding.] To feed and fatten in a stall or on dry fodder; as, to stall-feed an ox.

Stall"ing (?), n. Stabling. Tennyson.

Stal"lion (?), n. [OE. stalon, OF. estalon, F. étalon, fr. OHG. stal a stable. See Stall, n.] A male horse not castrated; a male horse kept for breeding.

Stall"man (stl"man), n.; pl. Stallmen (-men). One who keeps a stall for the sale of merchandise, especially books. Sterne.

Stal"lon (?), n. A slip from a plant; a scion; a cutting. [R.] Holinshed.

{ Stal"wart (?), Stal"worth (?) }, a. [OE. stalworth, AS. stælwyrð serviceable, probably originally, good at stealing, or worth stealing or taking, and afterwards extended to other causes of estimation. See Steal, v. t., Worth, a.] Brave; bold; strong; redoubted; daring; vehement; violent. "A stalwart tiller of the soil." Prof. Wilson.

Fair man be was and wise, stalworth and bold.

R. of Brunne.

Stalworth is now disused, or bur little used, stalwart having taken its place.

Stal"wart*ly (?), adv. In a stalwart manner.

Stal"wart*ness, n. The quality of being stalwart.

{ Stal"worth*hood (?), Stal"worth*ness (&?;)}, n. The quality or state of being stalworth; stalwartness; boldness; daring. [Obs.]

Sta"men (?), n.; pl. E. Stamens (#) (used only in the second sense); L. Stamina (#) (in the first sense). [L. stamen the warp, a thread, fiber, akin to Gr. &?; the warp, fr. &?; to stand, akin to E. stand. See Stand, and cf. Stamin, Stamina.] 1. A thread; especially, a warp thread.

2. (pl. Stamens, rarely Stamina.) (Bot.) The male organ of flowers for secreting and furnishing the pollen or fecundating dust. It consists of the anther and filament.

Sta"mened (?), a. Furnished with stamens.

Sta"min (?), n. [OF. estamine, F. étamine, LL. staminea, stamineum, fr. L. stamineus consisting of threads, fr. stamen a thread. See Stamen, and cf. Stamineous, 2d Stammel, Tamine.] A kind of woolen cloth. [Written also stamine.] [Obs.]

Stam"i*na (?), n. pl. See Stamen.

Stam"i*na, n. pl. 1. The fixed, firm part of a body, which supports it or gives it strength and solidity; as, the bones are the stamina of animal bodies; the ligneous parts of trees are the stamina which constitute their strength.

2. Whatever constitutes the principal strength or support of anything; power of endurance; backbone; vigor; as, the stamina of a constitution or of life; the stamina of a State.

He succeeded to great captains who had sapped the whole stamina and resistance of the contest.

De Quincey.

Stam"i*nal (?), a. [Cf. F. staminal.] Of or pertaining to stamens or stamina; consisting in stamens.

Stam"i*nate (?), a. [L. staminatus consisting of threads, fr. stamen thread: cf. F. staminé.] (Bot.) (a) Furnished with stamens; producing stamens. (b) Having stamens, but lacking pistils.

Stam"i*nate (?), v. t. To indue with stamina. [R.]

{ Sta*min"e*al (?), Sta*min"e*ous (?) }, a. [L. stamineus, from stamen thread.] 1. Consisting of stamens or threads.

2. (Bot.) Of or pertaining to the stamens; possessing stamens; also, attached to the stamens; as, a stamineous nectary.

Stam`i*nif"er*ous (?), a. [Stamen + -ferous.] Bearing or having stamens.

Stam"i*node (?), n. (Bot.) A staminodium.

||Stam`i*no"di*um (?), n.; pl. Staminodia (#). [NL. See Stamen, and - ||oid.] (Bot.) An abortive stamen, or any organ modified from an ||abortive stamen.

Stam"mel (?), n. A large, clumsy horse. [Prov. Eng.] Wright.

Stam"mel, n. [OF. estamel; cf. OF. estamet a coarse woolen cloth, LL. stameta a kind of cloth, the same as staminea, and OF. estame a woolen stuff. See Stamin.] 1. A kind of woolen cloth formerly in use. It seems to have been often of a red color. [Obs.]

2. A red dye, used in England in the 15th and 16th centuries. B. Jonson.

Stam"mel, a. Of the color of stammel; having a red color, thought inferior to scarlet.