Definition of STALK

stalk

Plural: stalks

Noun

  • material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds
  • a slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ
  • a hunt for game carried on by following it stealthily or waiting in ambush
  • the act of following prey stealthily
  • a stiff or threatening gait
  • The stem or main axis of a plant.
  • The petiole, pedicel, or peduncle of a plant.
  • Something resembling the stalk of a plant, such as the stem of a quill.
  • An ornament in the Corinthian capital resembling the stalk of a plant, from which the volutes and helices spring.
  • One of the two upright pieces of a ladder.
  • A stem or peduncle, as in certain barnacles and crinoids.
  • The narrow basal portion of the abdomen of a hymenopterous insect.
  • The peduncle of the eyes of decapod crustaceans.
  • An iron bar with projections inserted in a core to strengthen it; a core arbor.
  • Informally, a construction which generalizes that of the notion of the ring of germs of functions near a point to the context of arbitrary sheaves. Formally, given a sheaf ℱ on a space X, and a point x in X, the direct limit of the sections of F on the open neighborhoods of x ordered by reverse inclusion. See Stalk (sheaf) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  • The penis.
  • A particular episode of trying to follow or contact someone.
  • The hunting of a wild animal by stealthy approach.
  • A haughty style of walking.

Verb

Verb Forms: stalked, stalking, stalks

  • To pursue stealthily, often for prey; to stride stiffly.
  • walk stiffly
  • follow stealthily or recur constantly and spontaneously to
    • "her ex-boyfriend stalked her"
  • go through (an area) in search of prey
    • "stalk the woods for deer"
  • To approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer.
  • To (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment.ᵂᵖ
  • To walk slowly and cautiously; to walk in a stealthy, noiseless manner.
  • To walk behind something, such as a screen, for the purpose of approaching game; to proceed under cover.
  • To walk haughtily.

Examples

  • a stalk of wheat, rye, or oats;  the stalks of maize or hemp
  • grape stalks
  • My ex-girlfriend is stalking me.
  • The player would stalk the board, looking for that perfect ’Z’ placement.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English stalke, stelke, stalk, perhaps from Old English *stealc, *stielc, *stealuc, from Proto-West Germanic *staluk, *stalik, from Proto-Germanic *stalukaz, *stalikaz, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *stalô, *staluz (“support, stem, stalk”), from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to place, stand; be stiff; stud, post, trunk, stake, stem, stalk”). Cognate with Old High German *stelh in wazzarstelh (“wagtail”), Danish stilk (“stalk, stem”), Swedish stjälk (“stalk, stem”), Icelandic stilkur (“stalk, stem”).
Related also to Middle English stale (“ladder upright, stalk”), Old English stalu (“wooden upright”), Middle Low German stal, stale (“chair leg”), Old English stela (“stalk”), Dutch steel (“stalk”), German Stiel (“stalk”), Albanian shtalkë (“crossbeam, board used as a door hinge”), Welsh telm (“frond”), Ancient Greek στειλειή (steileiḗ, “beam”), Old Armenian ստեղն (stełn, “trunk, stalk”).

Synonyms

angry walk, chaff, haunt, husk, shuck, stalking, stem, still hunt, straw, stubble, footstalk

Scrabble Score: 9

stalk: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
stalk: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
stalk: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

stalk: valid Words With Friends Word