stalk
1the stem or main axis of a plant.
any slender supporting or connecting part of a plant, as the petiole of a leaf, the peduncle of a flower, or the funicle of an ovule.
a similar structural part of an animal.
a stem, shaft, or slender supporting part of anything.
Automotive. a slender lever, usually mounted on or near the steering wheel, that is used by the driver to control a signal or function: The horn button is on the turn-signal stalk.
Origin of stalk
1Other words from stalk
- stalklike, adjective
Words Nearby stalk
Other definitions for stalk (2 of 2)
to pursue or approach prey, quarry, etc., stealthily.
to walk with measured, stiff, or haughty strides: He was so angry he stalked away without saying goodbye.
to proceed in a steady, deliberate, or sinister manner: Famine stalked through the nation.
Obsolete. to walk or go stealthily along.
to pursue (game, a person, etc.) stealthily.
to proceed through (an area) in search of prey or quarry: to stalk the woods for game.
to proceed or spread through in a steady or sinister manner: Disease stalked the land.
an act or course of stalking quarry, prey, or the like: We shot the mountain goat after a five-hour stalk.
a slow, stiff stride or gait.
Origin of stalk
2Other words from stalk
- stalk·a·ble, adjective
- stalker, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use stalk in a sentence
Another client, Meadow Mushrooms, is making packaging from the stalks removed from mushrooms during processing.
A few miles down the road, a rusting old John Deere combine growled on through the flurries, its blade churning through dead-brown stalks of soybeans.
The Big Thaw: How Russia Could Dominate a Warming World | by Abrahm Lustgarten, photography by Sergey Ponomarev | December 16, 2020 | ProPublicaThese grass-like plants will be 3 to 9 feet tall with an oval cross section to the lower stalk.
13 edible plants you can still find in the winter | By Tim MacWelch/Outdoor Life | December 1, 2020 | Popular-ScienceThe most interesting thing is not that it’s almost spherical, but rather the beautiful cusplike feature where the stalk meets the fruit.
The system monitors grain as it’s collected and adjusts dozens of settings on the combine in real-time to maximize how much grain is chopped from each stalk and to minimize waste.
A.I. gets down in the dirt as precision agriculture takes off | Aaron Pressman | October 5, 2020 | Fortune
At night jineteras stalk the promenade in search of tourists while a trumpet from a bench serenades the proceedings.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left Behind | Brin-Jonathan Butler | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMurder, suicide, illness, old age: These deaths stalk us all, but in prison, they collect us so much more cheaply.
They go to Paris, but never leave the underground metro station, where they stalk the metro mall shops.
Famine will stalk the land and as many as seven million people will confront extreme food insecurity—in short, starvation.
Preventing Genocide In South Sudan | Eric Reeves, John Prendergast | April 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMore girls are reporting their boyfriends stalk them via text message or threaten to humiliate them with social media.
Digital Harassment Is the New Means of Domestic Abuse | Keli Goff | February 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe flowers grow in clusters from the extremities of the stalk; they are yellow externally and of a delicate red within.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.When a leaf is so young that it wraps itself around the main stalk it's useless to try to turn it over.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole | Arthur Scott BaileyAt last the Queen, whose mouth was now quite filled with bits of the mullen-stalk, mumbled, "Get to the point."
Davy and The Goblin | Charles E. CarrylWhy should they not dawdle at their labor sitting upon the fence in endless colloquy while the harvest rots upon the stalk?
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen LeacockI wonder if that square-jawed devil has got a glimpse of us and is trying a lone-handed stalk himself?
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
British Dictionary definitions for stalk (1 of 2)
/ (stɔːk) /
the main stem of a herbaceous plant
any of various subsidiary plant stems, such as a leafstalk (petiole) or flower stalk (peduncle)
a slender supporting structure in animals such as crinoids and certain protozoans, coelenterates, and barnacles
any long slender supporting shaft or column
Origin of stalk
1Derived forms of stalk
- stalked, adjective
- stalkless, adjective
- stalklike, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for stalk (2 of 2)
/ (stɔːk) /
to follow or approach (game, prey, etc) stealthily and quietly
to pursue persistently and, sometimes, attack (a person with whom one is obsessed, often a celebrity)
to spread over (a place) in a menacing or grim manner: fever stalked the camp
(intr) to walk in a haughty, stiff, or threatening way: he stalked out in disgust
to search or draw (a piece of land) for prey
the act of stalking
a stiff or threatening stride
Origin of stalk
2Derived forms of stalk
- stalker, noun
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
Scientific definitions for stalk
[ stôk ]
The main stem of a plant.
A slender structure that supports a plant part, such as a flower or leaf.
A slender supporting structure in certain other organisms, such as the reproductive structure in plasmodial slime molds or the part of a mushroom below the cap.
A slender supporting or connecting part of an animal, such as the eyestalk of a lobster.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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