stale 1
— stalely , adv. — staleness , n.
/stayl/ , adj., staler, stalest , v. , staled, staling .
adj.
1. not fresh; vapid or flat, as beverages; dry or hardened, as bread.
2. musty; stagnant: stale air.
3. having lost novelty or interest; hackneyed; trite: a stale joke.
4. having lost freshness, vigor, quick intelligence, initiative, or the like, as from overstrain, boredom, or surfeit: He had grown stale on the job and needed a long vacation.
5. Law. having lost force or effectiveness through absence of action, as a claim.
v.t. , v.i.
6. to make or become stale.
[ 1250-1300; ME; akin to MD stel in same sense; perh. akin to STAND or to STALE 2 ]
Syn. 1. hard, tasteless, sour, insipid. 3. uninteresting, stereotyped, old, common.
Ant. 1. fresh.
stale 2
/stayl/ , v.i. , staled, staling .
(of livestock, esp. horses) to urinate.
[ 1400-50; late ME stalen to urinate; c. G stallen, Dan stalle, Norw, Sw stalla ]