I. ˈstȯl noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English stal, stall, from Old English stall, steall; akin to Old High German stal stand, place, stall, stellen to set, place, Old Norse stallr stand, stall, Old Latin stlocus place, Latin locus place, stolidus dull, stultus foolish, Greek stellein to set up, make ready, send, Sanskrit sthalati he stands
1.
a. : a place where horses or cattle are kept:
(1) obsolete : stable
(2) : a division of a stable or barn accommodating one animal and often enclosed except at the rear
b. : a compartment in a roundhouse for a locomotive
c. : a space marked off for the parking of a motor vehicle
2. obsolete
a. : a fixed position : stand
b. : a place in or as if in a series : station , rank
3.
a. : a fixed seat in the chancel of a church usually forming one of an attached row enclosed or partly enclosed at the back and sides and often having a canopy, separating arms or partitions, a seat that can tip up, a desk for books, and carved ornamentation ; especially : such a seat on either side of the chancel of a cathedral or collegiate church serving as the official seat of a dignitary or residentiary canon
the only minor canon … to obtain a prebenal stall — Leslie Smith
b. : a long seat with back and arms for worshipers in a church : pew
c. : one of the seats assigned to the knights in a British chapel associated with one of the higher orders of chivalry
d. Britain : a seat in the forward part of the main level of a theater — usually used in plural
people who … can't afford the stalls and are ashamed to be seen in the gallery — G.B.Shaw
4. : a booth, stand, or counter at which articles are displayed for sale or a business is conducted
a candy stall at a fair
a shooting stall at a carnival
coffee stall
specifically : bookstall
publishers try to get their most handsome volumes into the stalls just before Christmas — Time
published as stall ballads — Kenneth Lodewick
5. : a protective sheath covering a single finger, thumb, or toe : cot
6. chiefly Britain : a tunnel in which coal is mined by the bord-and-pillar system : room , breast
7. : a small partially enclosed compartment
a shower stall
as
a. : carrel
b. : a usually roofless enclosure in which ore is roasted
8. stalls plural , Britain : the occupants of the stalls in a theater
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English stallen, from stall (I)
transitive verb
1.
a. : to put into or keep in a stall
the cattle were stalled in the house — Gunnar Mickwith
b. archaic : to fatten by stall-feeding
better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred — Prov 15:17 (Authorized Version)
c. dialect Britain : to cause surfeit in : satiate
2. obsolete : to install in office originally by formal induction into a stall of office or dignity in a church or chapel
3. obsolete
a. : to assign a place to
b. : to appoint beforehand : arrange
c. : to arrange payment of (a debt) by portions due at different times
4.
a. : to force to a sandstill : hinder from going on
help rescue horses stalled in a slough — American Guide Series: New Jersey
soldiers were stalled here for four days by heavy enemy fire — Toni Howard
b.
(1) : to cause (an engine) to stop from overload or poor fuel supply : kill
(2) : to cause (a motor vehicle) to stop by stalling the engine
c. : to cause (an airplane or airfoil) to go into a stall
intransitive verb
1. obsolete : to live in the same place
2.
a. : to come to a standstill: as
(1) : to stick fast in mire or snow
(2) : to stop from engine overload or poor fuel supply : die
b. : to enter or experience a stall in flying
III. noun
( -s )
: the condition of an airfoil or airplane operating at an angle of attack greater than that corresponding to maximum life that is characterized by flow breakdown and loss of effectiveness of the controls
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: alteration (influenced by stall ) (I) of stale (VI)
1. obsolete : decoy
2. : a pickpocket's confederate who block the victim, distracts his attention (as by jostling), and screens the theft
3. : something used to deceive others about one's intentions : dodge , ruse , blind
4. : an artifice for delaying or impeding action
V. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
intransitive verb
1. : to serve as a pickpocket's stall
2. : to keep a situation going by some device or trick until relief or change can be effected : play for time
charged that he was stalling when he did not answer promptly
3. : to do less than one's best in a contest in order to deceive one's opponent for some purpose or to husband one's strength
4. : to maintain possession of the ball (as in basketball) without endeavoring to score to prevent the possibility of a score by the opponents
transitive verb
: to divert or delay by evasion or deception
many contractors stall renegotiation, hoping new renegotiators will be named soon and give them a better break — Kiplinger Washington Letter
— often used with off
tried to stall off his creditors till the expected check came