STALK


Meaning of STALK in English

I. ˈstȯk verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: Middle English stalken, from Old English be stealcian to walk stealthily; akin to Old English stealc steep, lofty, Old Swedish stjœlke stalk, stem, Old Norse stjölr hinder part, tail — more at steal

intransitive verb

1. obsolete : to walk cautiously or furtively : steal , slip

2. : to pursue quarry or prey stealthily or under cover (as behind a stalking horse) : still-hunt

deer are hunted chiefly by stalking — Encyc. Americana

— compare drive

3.

a. : to walk with a stiff ungainly stride

long-legged water birds stalk along the shore

b. : to walk with long measured steps : stride loftily

turned on his heel, and stalked stiffly out — Kenneth Roberts

c. : to move in a silent deliberate manner — used of ghosts and half-personified evils

a specter that stalked along the castle walls at midnight

the terror that stalks through the city

transitive verb

1.

a. : to pursue (as game) stealthily and often under cover for the purpose of killing

stalk deer

stalk an enemy patrol

watch a tiger stalk its prey

b. : to pursue or follow in a stealthy, furtive, or persistent manner

the man was stalking him as remorselessly as if he were a criminal — Time

2. : to move through, recur to, or follow as a specter or evil : dog , haunt

a nightmare that stalks his sleep

the starvation that stalked the winter-devastated land — New York Times Book Review

3. : to go through (an area) in search of prey or other quarry

stalk the woods for deer

II. noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English stalke, from stalken to stalk

1. : the act or process of stalking prey or other quarry

2. : a stalking gait

III. noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English stalke; akin to Old Swedish stjœlke stalk — more at stalk , v.

1.

a. : the main stem of an herbaceous plant often with its dependent parts (as leaves, twigs, fruit)

a stalk of wheat

— often used in combination

corn stalk

bean stalk

b. : a part of a plant by which an organ (as a leaf, fruit) is attached and supported: as

(1) : the petiole of a leaf

(2) : the peduncle or pedicel of a flower or fruit

(3) : the stipe of an ovary

(4) : the seta of a moss

c. : an organ-bearing stalk with the parts it bears

bought a whole stalk of bananas

2. : a slender upright object or supporting or connecting part: as

a. : a long narrow peduncle supporting some part of an animal body

the stalk of the pituitary

or the entire body

the stalk of hydrocaulus that attaches a hydroid to the substrate

the stalk of some crinoids is many times as long as the body it attaches

b. : the stack of a chimney

c. : an ornament in the Corinthian capital which resembles the stalk of a plant and from which the volutes and helices spring

3. : an iron bar with projections that is inserted in a core to strengthen it : a core arbor

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.