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stale

 - 6 dictionary results

stale

1[steyl] ,adjective, stal⋅er, stal⋅est, verb, staled, stal⋅ing.
–adjective
1. not fresh; vapid or flat, as beverages; dry or hardened, as bread.
2. musty; stagnant: stale air.
3. having lost novelty or interest; hackneyed; trite: a stale joke.
4. having lost freshness, vigor, quick intelligence, initiative, or the like, as from overstrain, boredom, or surfeit: He had grown stale on the job and needed a long vacation.
5. Law. having lost force or effectiveness through absence of action, as a claim.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
6. to make or become stale.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME; akin to MD stel in same sense; perh. akin to stand or to stale 2


stalely, adverb
staleness, noun


1. hard, tasteless, sour, insipid. 3. uninteresting, stereotyped, old, common.


1. fresh.

stale

2[steyl] ,
–verb (used without object), staled, stal⋅ing.
(of livestock, esp. horses) to urinate.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME stalen to urinate; c. G stallen, Dan stalle, Norw, Sw stalla
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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stale 1   (stāl)   
adj.   stal·er, stal·est
  1. Having lost freshness, effervescence, or palatability: stale bread; stale air.

  2. Lacking originality or spontaneity: a stale joke.

  3. Impaired in efficacy, vigor, or spirit, as from inactivity or boredom.

  4. Law Having lost effectiveness or force through lack of exercise or action.

tr. & intr.v.   staled, stal·ing, stales
To make or become stale.

[Middle English, settled, clear (used of beer or wine), probably from Old French estale, slack, settled, clear, from estaler, to come to a standstill, halt, from estal, standing place, stand, of Germanic origin; see stel- in Indo-European roots.]
stale'ly adv., stale'ness n.
stale 2   (stāl)   
intr.v.   staled, stal·ing, stales
To urinate. Used especially of horses and camels.
n.  The urine of certain animals, especially horses and camels.

[Middle English stalen, possibly of Low German origin; akin to Middle Low German stallen.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

stale 
c.1300, "freed from dregs or lees" (of ale, wine, etc.), i.e. "having stood long enough to clear," cognate with M.Du. stel "stale" (of beer), and probably ult. from P.Gmc. base *sta- "stand," the source of O.E. standan "to stand," Perhaps via O.Fr. estaler "halt," from Frankish *stal- "position" (see stall (1)). The meaning "not fresh" is first recorded 1475. Fig. sense (of immaterial things) is recorded from 1562.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: stale
Function: adjective
: impaired in legal effect or force by reason of not being used, acted upon, or demanded in a timely fashion stale information> stale claim>
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