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”).
Cognates
Cognate with Dutch staal (“sample”), steel (“stem”), German Stiel (“stalk”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål stilk (“stalk, stem”), Faroese stjølur (“bottom part of a sheaf”), Icelandic stilkur (“stalk, stem”), Norwegian Nynorsk stilk, stylk (“stalk, stem”), styl (“lower part of a straw”), Swedish stjälk (“stalk, stem”), Albanian shtalkë (“crossbeam, board used as a door hinge”), Welsh telm (“frond”), Ancient Greek στειλειή (steileiḗ, “beam”), Old Armenian ստեղն (stełn, “trunk, stalk”).
Meanings
The stem or main axis of a plant.
a stalk of wheat, rye, or oats; the stalks of maize or hemp
Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with […] on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs. 1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter I (Anarchy), pages 377–378:
The petiole, pedicel, or peduncle of a plant.
grape stalks
Something resembling the stalk of a plant, such as the stem of a quill.
they appear to be made up of little Bladders , like those in the Plume or Stalk of a Quill 1681, Nehemiah Grew, Musæum Regalis Societatis. Or A Catalogue & Description of the Natural and Artificial Rarities Belonging to the Royal Society and Preserved at Gresham Colledge. […], London: […] W. Rawlins, for the author, →OCLC:
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.
(qualifier:sheaf theory) 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
ru сте́бель (stem or main axis of a plant) · mkz bata (stem or main axis of a plant) · uz poya (stem or main axis of a plant) · grc καυλός (stem or main axis of a plant) · el μίσχος (stem or main axis of a plant) · fa ستاک (stem or main axis of a plant) · it picciolo (zoology: stem or peduncle, as in certain barnacles and crinoids) · it gambo (stem or main axis of a plant) · mi tā (stem or main axis of a plant) · hi तना (stem or main axis of a plant) · ka ღერო (stem or main axis of a plant) · txb pere (stem or main axis of a plant) · nl halm (stem or main axis of a plant) · hy ցողուն (stem or main axis of a plant) · mk стебло (stem or main axis of a plant) · ru стебло́ (stem or main axis of a plant) · sw bua (stem or main axis of a plant) · cs stonek (stem or main axis of a plant) · ba һабаҡ (stem or main axis of a plant) · ar سَاق (stem or main axis of a plant) · fi varsi (stem or main axis of a plant) · ota صاپ (stem or main axis of a plant) · it stelo (architecture: ornament in the Corinthian capital) · ceb dagami (stem or main axis of a plant) · cmn 莖 /茎 (stem or main axis of a plant) · es tallo (stem or main axis of a plant) · uk стебло́ (stem or main axis of a plant) · et vars (stem or main axis of a plant) · nl stengel (stem or main axis of a plant) · fi pystytuki (one of the two upright pieces of a ladder) · fr tige (stem or main axis of a plant) · kk сабақ (stem or main axis of a plant) · pal 𐮍𐮑𐮀𐮄 (stem or main axis of a plant) · de Holm (one of the two upright pieces of a ladder) · sh стабљика (stem or main axis of a plant) · sv stjälk (stem or main axis of a plant) · ms batang (stem or main axis of a plant) · pt talo (stem or main axis of a plant) · nb stengel (stem or main axis of a plant) · mi kaka (stem or main axis of a plant) · sh stabljika (stem or main axis of a plant) · gl talo (stem or main axis of a plant) · nl steel (stem or main axis of a plant) · sk steblo (stem or main axis of a plant) · mbb reɣami (stem or main axis of a plant) · mi tō (of monocots) (stem or main axis of a plant) · de Stängel (stem or main axis of a plant) · it venatura centrale (stem or main axis of a plant) · la caulis (stem or main axis of a plant) · kea pé (stem or main axis of a plant) · fi kaula (zoology: stem or peduncle, as in certain barnacles and crinoids) · mi tātā (stem or main axis of a plant) · ca tija (stem or main axis of a plant) · sq kërcell (stem or main axis of a plant) · de Stiel (stem or main axis of a plant) · fi tappi (zoology: peduncle of the eyes of decapod) · be сцябло́ (stem or main axis of a plant) · fi varsi (something resembling the stalk of a plant) · it peduncolo (zoology: stem or peduncle, as in certain barnacles and crinoids) · fa ساقه (stem or main axis of a plant) · ko 그루 (stem or main axis of a plant) · oc tija (stem or main axis of a plant) · he גִּבְעוֹל (stem or main axis of a plant) · gl couceiro (stem or main axis of a plant) · it stelo (stem or main axis of a plant) · sl steblo (stem or main axis of a plant) · pt haste (stem or main axis of a plant) · lt stiebas (stem or main axis of a plant) · tr sap (stem or main axis of a plant) · it fusto (stem or main axis of a plant) · ja 茎 (stem or main axis of a plant) · fi ruoto (something resembling the stalk of a plant) · ko 줄기 (stem or main axis of a plant) · pl badyl (stem or main axis of a plant) · ro tulpină (stem or main axis of a plant) · fa ستاخ (stem or main axis of a plant) · nds Steel (stem or main axis of a plant) · tl tangkay (stem or main axis of a plant) · pl łodyga (stem or main axis of a plant) · de Strunk (stem or main axis of a plant) · th ก้าน (stem or main axis of a plant) · nds Halm (stem or main axis of a plant) · nn stengel (stem or main axis of a plant) · da stængel (stem or main axis of a plant) · lv stumbrs (stem or main axis of a plant) · it caule (stem or main axis of a plant) · ro tijă (stem or main axis of a plant) · ml തണ്ട് (stem or main axis of a plant) · kmr bistîk (stem or main axis of a plant) · ang healm (stem or main axis of a plant) · la stipula (stem or main axis of a plant) · bg стъбло (stem or main axis of a plant) · it pedicello (zoology: stem or peduncle, as in certain barnacles and crinoids) · sh пeтeљка (stem or main axis of a plant) · sh peteljka (stem or main axis of a plant) · vi thân (stem or main axis of a plant) · nds Stängel (stem or main axis of a plant) · hu szár (stem or main axis of a plant) · izh vars (stem or main axis of a plant) · gl pabea (stem or main axis of a plant) · sk stonka (stem or main axis of a plant) · ota اوزدك (stem or main axis of a plant) · uk сте́бель (stem or main axis of a plant)
From Middle English stalken, from Old English *stealcian (as in bestealcian (“to move stealthily”), stealcung (“stalking”)), from Proto-West Germanic *stalukōn, from Proto-Germanic *stalukōną (“to stalk, move stealthily”) (compare Dutch stelkeren, stolkeren (“to tip-toe, tread carefully”), Danish stalke (“to high step, stalk”), Norwegian dialectal stalka (“to trudge”)), from *stalkaz, *stelkaz (compare Old English stealc (“steep”), Old Norse stelkr, stjalkr (“knot (bird), red sandpiper”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)telg, *(s)tolg- (compare Middle Irish tolg (“strength”), Lithuanian stalgùs (“stiff, defiant, proud”)).
Alternate etymology connects Proto-Germanic *stalkōną to a frequentative form of *stelaną (“to steal”).
Meanings
A particular episode of trying to follow or contact someone.
The hunting of a wild animal by stealthy approach.
When the stalk was over (the antelope took alarm and ran off before I was within rifle shot) I came back. 1885, Theodore Roosevelt, Hunting Trips of a Ranchman:
From Middle English stalken, from Old English *stealcian (as in bestealcian (“to move stealthily”), stealcung (“stalking”)), from Proto-West Germanic *stalukōn, from Proto-Germanic *stalukōną (“to stalk, move stealthily”) (compare Dutch stelkeren, stolkeren (“to tip-toe, tread carefully”), Danish stalke (“to high step, stalk”), Norwegian dialectal stalka (“to trudge”)), from *stalkaz, *stelkaz (compare Old English stealc (“steep”), Old Norse stelkr, stjalkr (“knot (bird), red sandpiper”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)telg, *(s)tolg- (compare Middle Irish tolg (“strength”), Lithuanian stalgùs (“stiff, defiant, proud”)).
Alternate etymology connects Proto-Germanic *stalkōną to a frequentative form of *stelaną (“to steal”).
Meanings
(transitive) To approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer.
But they had already discovered that he could be bullied, and they had it their own way; and presently Selwyn lay prone upon the nursery floor, impersonating a ladrone while pleasant shivers chased themselves over Drina, whom he was stalking. 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
As for shooting a man from behind a wall, it is cruelly like to stalking a deer. 1822, [Walter Scott], Peveril of the Peak. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC:
(transitive) To (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment.ᵂᵖ
My ex-girlfriend is stalking me.
villages stalked by the threat of famine
(intransitive) To walk slowly and cautiously; to walk in a stealthy, noiseless manner.
[Bertran] stalks close behind her, like a witch's fiend, / Pressing to be employed. 1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act IV, page 53:
O ay, stalk on, stalk on, the fowl sits 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
(intransitive) To walk behind something, such 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. 1625, Francis [Bacon], Apophthegmes New and Old. […], London: […] Hanna Barret, and Richard Whittaker, […], →OCLC:
One underneath his horse, to get a shoot doth stalk. 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion:
(Internet, transitive) Of a person's social media activity: to look through thoroughly or obsessively; to keep tabs on, generally avoiding contact.
Coordinate term: lurk
Hate when I'm stalking someone's Insta and I like one of their old pics. Makes me wanna burrow underground n' hibernate for a season or two. 2016 April 8, @JVCKJ, Twitter:
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stalking
Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part
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stalks
Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres
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stalked
Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part
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stalked
Tense=Past
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Translations (90)
ru кра́сться за (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · tr önmek (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · fi vainota (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · vi bám đuôi (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · ngh ǃaba (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · vi bám đuôi (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · mi whakamomoka (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · bg прокрадвам се (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · ang bestealcian (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · hu becserkész (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · sv följa (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · mi whakamokamoka (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · hu követ (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · sk stopovať (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · es aguaitar (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · sk zakrádať sa (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · hu cserkész (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · el κυνηγάω (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · it tampinare (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · sv förfölja (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · th แอบตาม (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · it accostarsi furtivamente (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · mi whakamokamoka (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · cs šmírovat (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · fi seurailla (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · fi vaania (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · sv förfölja (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · cs sledovat (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · hu nyomában van (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · gl aseitar (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · ru подкра́дываться к (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · sk sledovať (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · vi rình rập (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · fr traquer (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · hu zaklat (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · pt stalkear (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · ru ста́лкерить (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · ru пресле́довать (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · id kuntit, menguntit (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · it vessare (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · es acechar (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · es acechar (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · mi whakameto (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · sv följa (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · de belästigen (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · de sich anschleichen (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · cs stopovat (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · de sich anpirschen (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · fi väijyä (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · ja 付きまとう (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · mi whakamomoka (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · nl stalken (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · ang bestelan (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · tl panunubaybay (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · de sich heranschleichen (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · de nachstellen (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · it molestare (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · pl zakradać się (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · pt perseguir (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · pl stalkować (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · th สะกดรอย (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · pt tocaiar (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · es acosar (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · ro a se ține scai (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · he ארב (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · el κυνηγάω (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · it pedinare (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · th สตอล์ก (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · hu rátapad (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · ja 忍び寄る (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · sv stalka (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · it importunare (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · fi piinata (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · fi jahdata (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · pl nękać (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · ast chisbar (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · it assillare (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · bg преследвам (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · sk špehovať (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · vi rình rập (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · de heimsuchen (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · cmn 纏擾 /缠扰 (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · cs pronásledovat (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · hu utánaoson (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · it inseguire (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · it infastidire (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · de nachschleichen (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · hu ólálkodik (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer) · de stalken (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment) · fr harceler (to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment)
Attested 1530 in the sense "to walk haughtily", perhaps from Old English stealc (“steep”), from Proto-Germanic *stelkaz, *stalkaz (“high, lofty, steep, stiff”); see above.
Attested 1530 in the sense "to walk haughtily", perhaps from Old English stealc (“steep”), from Proto-Germanic *stelkaz, *stalkaz (“high, lofty, steep, stiff”); see above.
Meanings
(intransitive) To walk haughtily.
I forbear myself from entering the lists in which he has long stalked alone and unchallenged. 1850, Charles Merivale, History of the Romans Under the Empire:
Then stalking through the deep, / He fords the ocean. 1704, Joseph Addison, Milton's Stile Imitated, in a Translation of a Story out of the Third Aeneid:
With manly mien he stalked along the ground. 1697, Virgil, “The Tenth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
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stalked
Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part
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stalked
Tense=Past
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stalking
Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part
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stalks
Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres
lexicographic
Translations (12)
hu peckesen jár (to walk haughtily) · fi kekkalehtia (to walk haughtily) · de staksen (to walk haughtily) · de staken (to walk haughtily) · de stelzen (to walk haughtily) · hu dölyfösen jár (to walk haughtily) · de steifbeinig gehen (to walk haughtily) · de einherstolzieren (to walk haughtily) · ru вышагивать (to walk haughtily) · de stolzieren (to walk haughtily) · hu dölyfösen megy (to walk haughtily) · cs vykračovat si (to walk haughtily)