I. stalk 1 /stɔːk $ stɒːk/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: Perhaps from stale 'step of a ladder, long handle' (11-19 centuries) , from Old English stalu ]
1 . a long narrow part of a plant that supports leaves, fruits, or flowers:
celery stalks
2 . a thin upright object
3 . sb’s eyes are out on stalks British English informal if your eyes are out on stalks, you are very surprised or shocked
II. stalk 2 BrE AmE verb
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: bestealcian ]
1 . [transitive] to follow a person or animal quietly in order to catch and attack or kill them ⇨ shadow :
a tiger stalking its prey
We know the rapist stalks his victims at night.
2 . [transitive] to follow and watch someone over a long period of time in a way that is very annoying or threatening, and that is considered a crime in some places:
She was stalked by an obsessed fan.
3 . [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to walk in a proud or angry way, with long steps
stalk out/off/away
Yvonne turned and stalked out of the room in disgust.
4 . [transitive] literary if something bad stalks a place, you see or feel it everywhere in that place:
Fear stalks every dark stairwell and walkway.
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THESAURUS
▪ follow to walk, drive etc behind or after someone, for example in order to see where they are going:
The man had followed her home to find out where she lived.
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Follow that car!
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He hired a detective to follow her.
▪ chase to quickly run or drive after someone or something in order to catch them when they are trying to escape:
Police chased the car along the motorway at speeds of up to 90 mph.
▪ run after somebody/go after somebody to quickly follow someone or something in order to stop them or talk to them:
I ran after him to say sorry, but he’d already got on the bus.
▪ stalk /stɔːk $ stɒːk/ to secretly follow an animal in order to kill it, or to secretly follow a person in order to attack them:
a tiger stalking its prey
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He had a long history of stalking women in his neighbourhood.
▪ pursue /pəˈsjuː $ pərˈsuː/ written to chase someone in a very determined way:
The ship was being pursued by enemy submarines.
▪ give chase written to chase someone or something who is trying to escape from you:
One of the officers gave chase and arrested the man.
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The calf ran away and the lion gave chase.
▪ tail to secretly follow someone in order to watch what they do and where they go:
Apparently, the police had been tailing the terrorists for months.
▪ track to follow and find a person or animal by looking at the marks they leave on the ground:
The bushmen were tracking antelope in the Kalahari desert.