Stalk (?), n. [OE. stalke, fr.
AS. stæl, stel, a stalk. See Stale a
handle, Stall.] 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 resembes 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 climd by the rungs and the
stalks.
Chaucer.
5. (Zoöl.) (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 (Zoöl.), 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, v. i. [imp. & p.
p. Stalked (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Stalking.] [AS. stælcan, stealcian to go
slowly; cf. stels 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] 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 clover.
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 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.
Mericale.
Stalk (?), v. t. 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, n. A high, proud, stately
step or walk.
Thus twice before, . . .
With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch.
Shak.
The which with monstrous stalk behind him
stepped.
Spenser.
Stalk (?), n. The act or process of
stalking.
When the stalk was over (the antelope took alarm
and ran off before I was within rifle shot) I came back.
T. Roosevelt.
Stalk (?), n. [OE. stalke, fr.
AS. stæl, stel, a stalk. See Stale a
handle, Stall.] 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 resembes 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 climd by the rungs and the
stalks.
Chaucer.
5. (Zoöl.) (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 (Zoöl.), 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, v. i. [imp. & p.
p. Stalked (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Stalking.] [AS. stælcan, stealcian to go
slowly; cf. stels 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] 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 clover.
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 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.
Mericale.
Stalk (?), v. t. 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, n. A high, proud, stately
step or walk.
Thus twice before, . . .
With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch.
Shak.
The which with monstrous stalk behind him
stepped.
Spenser.
Stalk (?), n. The act or process of
stalking.
When the stalk was over (the antelope took alarm
and ran off before I was within rifle shot) I came back.
T. Roosevelt.
