/ steɪl; NAmE / adjective
1.
( of food, especially bread and cake ) no longer fresh and therefore unpleasant to eat
2.
( of air, smoke, etc. ) no longer fresh; smelling unpleasant :
stale cigarette smoke
stale sweat
3.
something that is stale has been said or done too many times before and is no longer interesting or exciting :
stale jokes
Their marriage had gone stale .
4.
a person who is stale has done the same thing for too long and so is unable to do it well or produce any new ideas :
After ten years in the job, she felt stale and needed a change.
► stale·ness noun [ U ]
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WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (describing beer in the sense clear from long standing, strong ): probably from Anglo-Norman French and Old French , from estaler to halt; compare with the verb stall .