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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

4 entries under this word

Stale

Stāle, a.

adjective

a. [From stale, urine, first used of beer, and similar fermented liquors. Cf. Ger. schal.]

  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, stale bread.
  3. Having lost the life or graces of youth; worn out; decayed. “A stale virgin.” Shak.
  4. Worn out by use; trite; common; having lost its novelty and power of pleasing.

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, a claim or demand which has not been pressed or demanded for a long time.

Stāle, n.

noun

n. [O. Fr. estal, place, position, abode, market, from O. H. Ger. stal, station, place, stable, O. Fr. estaler, N. Fr. étaler, to expose wares for sale, O. D. stallen.] 1. Something set or offered to view as an allurement to draw others to any place or purpose; a decoy; a stool-fowl. [Obs.] Still, as he went, he crafty stales did lay. Spencer.

  1. A stalking horse. [Obs.]
  2. [See STALE, a.] Old vapid beer. [Obs.]
  3. A prostitute. [Obs.] Shak.
  4. [A-S. stel, L. Ger. & D. steel, Ger. stiel.] The stock or handle of any thing; as, the stale of a rake.

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

  1. (Chess-playing.) A stale-mate.
  2. Urine, especially that of beasts. [Obs.] Fuller.

Stāle, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. To make vapid or useless; to destroy the life, beauty, or use of; to wear out. [Obs.] Age can not wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety. Shak.

Stāle, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. [Ger. & D. stallen, Dan. stalle, Sw. stalla, from O. H. Ger. stal, A-S. steall, Eng. stall, a stable.] To make water; to discharge urine;— said especially of horses and cattle.