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definitions

stale

1
[steyl]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stale ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, stal·er, stal·est.

not fresh; vapid or flat, as beverages; dry or hardened, as bread.
musty; stagnant: stale air.
having lost novelty or interest; hackneyed; trite: a stale joke.
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.
Law. having lost force or effectiveness through absence of action, as a claim.

verb (used with or without object), staled, stal·ing.

to make or become stale.

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RELATED WORDS

sear, evaporate, scorch, wither, decay, deteriorate, blister, blacken, parch, melt, char, bake, dwindle, wilt, shrink, exhaust, drain, blot, deplete, shrivel

Origin of stale

1
1250–1300; Middle English; akin to Middle Dutch stel in same sense; perhaps akin to stand or to stale2
Related formsstale·ly, adverbstale·ness, noun

Synonyms for stale

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stale ON THESAURUS.COM
1. hard, tasteless, sour, insipid. 3. uninteresting, stereotyped, old, common.

Antonyms for stale

1. fresh.

stale

2
[steyl]

verb (used without object), staled, stal·ing.

(of livestock, especially horses) to urinate.

Origin of stale

2
1400–50; late Middle English stalen to urinate; cognate with German stallen, Danish stalle, Norwegian, Swedish stalla
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for staled

Historical Examples of staled

  • There have been other passions—aye, as great as yours—yet have they staled.

  • Again a miracle; these are things which cannot be staled by repetition.

    Expository Writing

    Mervin James Curl

  • The mystery of the ancient wood was not to be staled by use.

    The Heart of the Ancient Wood

    Charles G. D. Roberts

  • The Popes used them at last with a frequency that staled their effect.

  • The information, however, was not particularly new to me, and the effect was staled by previous rehearsals.

    Dream Days

    Kenneth Grahame

British Dictionary definitions for staled

stale

1

adjective

(esp of food) hard, musty, or dry from being kept too long
(of beer, etc) flat and tasteless from being kept open too long
(of air) stagnant; foul
uninteresting from overuse; hackneyedstale clichés
no longer newstale news
lacking in energy or ideas through overwork or lack of variety
banking (of a cheque) not negotiable by a bank as a result of not having been presented within six months of being written
law (of a claim, etc) having lost its effectiveness or force, as by failure to act or by the lapse of time

verb

to make or become stale
Derived Formsstalely, adverbstaleness, noun

Word Origin for stale

C13 (originally applied to liquor in the sense: well matured): probably via Norman French from Old French estale (unattested) motionless, of Frankish origin; related to stall 1, install

stale

2

verb

(intr) (of livestock) to urinate

noun

the urine of horses or cattle

Word Origin for stale

C15: perhaps from Old French estaler to stand in one position; see stall 1; compare Middle Low German stallen to urinate, Greek stalassein to drip
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for staled

stale

adj.

c.1300, "freed from dregs or lees" (of ale, wine, etc.), i.e. "having stood long enough to clear," cognate with Middle Dutch stel "stale" (of beer), and probably ultimately from Proto-Germanic base *sta- "stand," the source of Old English standan "to stand," Perhaps via Old French estaler "halt," from Frankish *stal- "position" (see stall (n.1)). The meaning "not fresh" is first recorded late 15c. Figurative sense (of immaterial things) is recorded from 1560s. Related: Staleness.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper