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View synonyms for stalk

stalk

1

[ stawk ]

noun

  1. the stem or main axis of a plant.
  2. any slender supporting or connecting part of a plant, as the petiole of a leaf, the peduncle of a flower, or the funicle of an ovule.
  3. a similar structural part of an animal.
  4. a stem, shaft, or slender supporting part of anything.
  5. Automotive. a slender lever, usually mounted on or near the steering wheel, that is used by the driver to control a signal or function:

    The horn button is on the turn-signal stalk.



stalk

2

[ stawk ]

verb (used without object)

  1. to pursue or approach prey, quarry, etc., stealthily.
  2. to walk with measured, stiff, or haughty strides:

    He was so angry he stalked away without saying goodbye.

  3. to proceed in a steady, deliberate, or sinister manner:

    Famine stalked through the nation.

  4. Obsolete. to walk or go stealthily along.

verb (used with object)

  1. to pursue (game, a person, etc.) stealthily.
  2. to proceed through (an area) in search of prey or quarry:

    to stalk the woods for game.

  3. to proceed or spread through in a steady or sinister manner:

    Disease stalked the land.

noun

  1. an act or course of stalking quarry, prey, or the like:

    We shot the mountain goat after a five-hour stalk.

  2. a slow, stiff stride or gait.

stalk

1

/ stɔːk /

verb

  1. to follow or approach (game, prey, etc) stealthily and quietly
  2. to pursue persistently and, sometimes, attack (a person with whom one is obsessed, often a celebrity)
  3. to spread over (a place) in a menacing or grim manner

    fever stalked the camp

  4. intr to walk in a haughty, stiff, or threatening way

    he stalked out in disgust

  5. to search or draw (a piece of land) for prey


noun

  1. the act of stalking
  2. a stiff or threatening stride

stalk

2

/ stɔːk /

noun

  1. the main stem of a herbaceous plant
  2. any of various subsidiary plant stems, such as a leafstalk (petiole) or flower stalk (peduncle)
  3. a slender supporting structure in animals such as crinoids and certain protozoans, coelenterates, and barnacles
  4. any long slender supporting shaft or column

stalk

/ stôk /

  1. The main stem of a plant.
  2. A slender structure that supports a plant part, such as a flower or leaf.
  3. A slender supporting structure in certain other organisms, such as the reproductive structure in plasmodial slime molds or the part of a mushroom below the cap.
  4. A slender supporting or connecting part of an animal, such as the eyestalk of a lobster.


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Derived Forms

  • ˈstalker, noun
  • stalked, adjective
  • ˈstalkless, adjective
  • ˈstalkˌlike, adjective

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Other Words From

  • stalklike adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of stalk1

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English stalk(e), apparently equivalent to Old English stal(u) “stave” + -k diminutive suffix; akin to Norwegian dialect stalk, Swedish stjelk, Danish stilk

Origin of stalk2

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English verb stalken, representing the base of Old English bestealcian “to move stealthily”; akin to steal

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Word History and Origins

Origin of stalk1

Old English bestealcian to walk stealthily; related to Middle Low German stolkeren , Danish stalke

Origin of stalk2

C14: probably a diminutive formed from Old English stalu upright piece of wood; related to Old Frisian staal handle

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Example Sentences

Another client, Meadow Mushrooms, is making packaging from the stalks removed from mushrooms during processing.

A few miles down the road, a rusting old John Deere combine growled on through the flurries, its blade churning through dead-brown stalks of soybeans.

These grass-like plants will be 3 to 9 feet tall with an oval cross section to the lower stalk.

The most interesting thing is not that it’s almost spherical, but rather the beautiful cusplike feature where the stalk meets the fruit.

The system monitors grain as it’s collected and adjusts dozens of settings on the combine in real-time to maximize how much grain is chopped from each stalk and to minimize waste.

From Fortune

At night jineteras stalk the promenade in search of tourists while a trumpet from a bench serenades the proceedings.

Murder, suicide, illness, old age: These deaths stalk us all, but in prison, they collect us so much more cheaply.

They go to Paris, but never leave the underground metro station, where they stalk the metro mall shops.

Famine will stalk the land and as many as seven million people will confront extreme food insecurity—in short, starvation.

More girls are reporting their boyfriends stalk them via text message or threaten to humiliate them with social media.

The flowers grow in clusters from the extremities of the stalk; they are yellow externally and of a delicate red within.

When a leaf is so young that it wraps itself around the main stalk it's useless to try to turn it over.

At last the Queen, whose mouth was now quite filled with bits of the mullen-stalk, mumbled, "Get to the point."

Why should they not dawdle at their labor sitting upon the fence in endless colloquy while the harvest rots upon the stalk?

I wonder if that square-jawed devil has got a glimpse of us and is trying a lone-handed stalk himself?

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Stalin's purge trialsstalked