stile

¹ American  

[stahyl] / staɪl /

noun

1. a series of steps or rungs by means of which a person may pass over a wall or fence that remains a barrier to sheep or cattle.

2. a turnstile.

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stile ² American  

[stahyl] / staɪl /

noun

Carpentry, Furniture.

1. any of various upright members framing panels or the like, as in a system of paneling, a paneled door, window sash, or chest of drawers.

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stile ¹ British  

/ staɪl /

noun

1. a set of steps or rungs in a wall or fence to allow people, but not animals, to pass over

2. short for turnstile

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stile ² British  

/ staɪl /

noun

1. a vertical framing member in a door, window frame, or piece of panelling Compare rail 1

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Etymology

Origin of stile¹

before 900; Middle English; Old English stigel, derivative of stīgan to climb, cognate with German steigen

Origin of stile²

1670–80; perhaps < Dutch stijl (door-, bed-) post, strut

Example Sentences

So, I simply drove through the electronic stile, preparing myself for the bill that would arrive in the mail once that plaza's automated system photographed and traced our license plate.

From Salon • Jul. 27, 2021

She believed her husband had gone back for their elderly dog after lifting their other two dogs over a stile.

From BBC • Jun. 21, 2021

If you watch the beginning of the sequence carefully, you’ll see Andrei lingering near the red-tinted entrance to the temporal stile, staying behind and instructing his men to tell him everything that happens.

From Slate • Sep. 3, 2020

Here’s just a fragment from one of hers: “a meridienne, banquette, pouf, ottoman, ear, stile, cross rail, stretcher, cross stretcher, crinoline stretcher, cornice, top rail, diamond point.”

From New York Times • Nov. 12, 2019

I climbed the stile to the cemetery and started across.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff