Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Stalk
1.
(Bot.)
(a)
The stem or main axis of a plant;
as, a
stalk
of wheat, rye, or oats; the stalks
of maize or hemp. (b)
The petiole, pedicel, or peduncle, of a plant.
2.
That which resembles the stalk of a plant, as the stem of a quill.
Grew.
3.
(Arch.)
An ornament in the Corinthian capital resembling the stalk of a plant, from which the volutes and helices spring.
4.
One of the two upright pieces of a ladder.
[Obs.]
To climb by the rungs and the
stalks
. Chaucer.
5.
(Zool.)
(a)
A stem or peduncle, as of certain barnacles and crinoids.
(b)
The narrow basal portion of the abdomen of a hymenopterous insect.
(c)
The peduncle of the eyes of decapod crustaceans.
6.
(Founding)
An iron bar with projections inserted in a core to strengthen it; a core arbor.
Stalk borer
(Zool.)
, the larva of a noctuid moth (
Gortyna nitela
), which bores in the stalks of the raspberry, strawberry, tomato, asters, and many other garden plants, often doing much injury.Stalk
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Stalked
(sta̤kt)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Stalking
.] [AS.
staelcan
, stealcian
to go slowly; cf. stealc
high, elevated, Dan. stalke
to stalk; probably akin to 1st stalk
.] 1.
To walk slowly and cautiously; to walk in a stealthy, noiseless manner; – sometimes used with a reflexive pronoun.
Shak.
Into the chamber he
stalked
him full still. Chaucer.
[Bertran]
Pressing to be employed.
stalks
close behind her, like a witch’s fiend,Pressing to be employed.
Dryden.
2.
To walk behind something as a screen, for the purpose of approaching game; to proceed under cover.
The king . . . crept under the shoulder of his led horse; . . . “I must
stalk
,” said he. Bacon.
One underneath his horse, to get a shoot doth
stalk
. Drayton.
3.
To walk with high and proud steps; – usually implying the affectation of dignity, and indicating dislike. The word is used, however, especially by the poets, to express dignity of step.
With manly mien he
stalked
along the ground. Dryden.
Then
He fords the ocean.
stalking
through the deep,He fords the ocean.
Addison.
I forbear myself from entering the lists in which he has long
stalked
alone and unchallenged. Merivale.
Stalk
(sta̤k)
, Verb.
T.
1.
To approach under cover of a screen, or by stealth, for the purpose of killing, as game.
As for shooting a man from behind a wall, it is cruelly like to
stalking
a deer. Sir W. Scott.
Stalk
,Noun.
1.
A high, proud, stately step or walk.
Thus twice before, . . .
With martial
With martial
stalk
hath he gone by our watch. Shakespeare
The which with monstrous
stalk
behind him stepped. Spenser.
Webster 1828 Edition
Stalk
STALK
,Noun.
1.
The stem, culm or main body of an herbaceous plant. Thus we speak of a stalk of wheat, rye or oats, the stalks of maiz or hemp. The stalk of herbaceous plants, answers to the stem of shrubs and tress, and denotes that which is set, the fixed part of a plant, its support; or it is a shoot.2.
The pedicle of a flower, or the peduncle that supports the fructification of a plant.3.
The stem of a quill.STALK
,Verb.
I.
1.
To walk with high and proud steps; usually implying the affectation of dignity, and hence the word usually expresses dislike. The poets however use the word to express dignity of step.With manly mein he stalkd along the ground.
Then stalking through the deep he fords the ocean.
2.
It is used with some insinuation of contempt or abhorrence. Stalks close behind her, like a witchs fiend, pressing to be employd.
Tis not to stalk about and draw fresh air from time to time.
3.
To walk behind a stalking horse or behind a cover.The king crept under the shoulder of his led horse, and said, I must stalk.
STALK
,Noun.