stalk
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
stalk¹
- /stɔːk/ Northern England, UK
- /stoːk/ British, Southern, Standard
- /stɔk/ Scotland, UK
- /staːk/ UK
- /stɔk/
- /stɑk/ cot caught merger
- /stoːk/ Australia, New Zealand
Sounds like stork (non-rhotic), stock (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɔːk
Where it comes from
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”).
noun stalks
- The stem or main axis of a plant. a stalk of wheat, rye, or oats; the stalks of maize or hemp
-
The petiole, pedicel, or peduncle of a plant.
grape stalks
Similar: footstalk
- 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
- 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.
- 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
- The penis.
stalk²
- /stɔːk/ Northern England, UK
- /stoːk/ British, Southern, Standard
- /stɔk/ Scotland, UK
- /staːk/ UK
- /stɔk/
- /stɑk/ cot caught merger
- /stoːk/ Australia, New Zealand
Sounds like stork (non-rhotic), stock (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɔːk
Where it comes from
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”).
verb stalks · stalking · stalked
- To approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer. As for shooting a man from behind a wall, it is cruelly like to stalking a deer.
- To (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment.ᵂᵖ My ex-girlfriend is stalking me.
- 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.
- 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.
- Of a person's social media activity: to look through thoroughly or obsessively; to keep tabs on, generally avoiding contact. Coordinate term: lurk
noun stalks
- 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.
stalk³
- /stɔːk/ Northern England, UK
- /stoːk/ British, Southern, Standard
- /stɔk/ Scotland, UK
- /staːk/ UK
- /stɔk/
- /stɑk/ cot caught merger
- /stoːk/ Australia, New Zealand
Sounds like stork (non-rhotic), stock (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɔːk
Where it comes from
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.
verb stalks · stalking · stalked
- To walk haughtily. With manly mien he stalked along the ground.
noun stalks
- A haughty style of walking.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: husk, shuck, chaff, straw, stubble, haunt, stem, angry walk, still hunt, peduncle, pedicel, bole, cane, badger, foot, splint
Translations
Every language
noun stem or main axis of a plant
| Español | tallo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 그루 geuru, 줄기 julgi |
| 日本語 | 茎 kuki |
| 中文 | 莖 /茎 jīng |
| हिन्दी | तना tanā |
| Kiswahili | bua |
| Português | talo, haste |
| Français | tige |
| Deutsch | Strunk, Stiel, Stängel |
| Italiano | gambo, stelo, fusto, caule, venatura centrale |
| Ελληνικά | μίσχος míschos |
| Română | tijă, tulpină |
| Русский | сте́бель stébelʹ, стебло́ stebló |
| Tiếng Việt | thân |
| العربية | سَاق sāq |
| עברית | גִּבְעוֹל giv'ol |
noun architecture: ornament in the Corinthian capital
| Italiano | stelo |
|---|
noun one of the two upright pieces of a ladder
| Deutsch | Holm |
|---|
noun zoology: stem or peduncle, as in certain barnacles and crinoids
| Italiano | peduncolo, pedicello, picciolo |
|---|
verb to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer
| Español | acechar, aguaitar |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 忍び寄る shinobiyoru |
| Português | tocaiar |
| Français | traquer |
| Deutsch | sich anpirschen, sich anschleichen, sich heranschleichen |
| Italiano | accostarsi furtivamente, inseguire, tampinare, pedinare |
| Ελληνικά | κυνηγάω kynigáo |
| Русский | кра́сться за krástʹsja za, подкра́дываться к podkrádyvatʹsja k |
| Tiếng Việt | bám đuôi, rình rập |
| עברית | ארב aráv |
verb to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment
| Español | acechar, acosar |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 付きまとう tsukimatou |
| 中文 | 纏擾 /缠扰 chánrǎo |
| Português | perseguir, stalkear |
| Français | harceler |
| Deutsch | stalken, nachstellen, nachschleichen, heimsuchen, belästigen |
| Italiano | molestare, infastidire, importunare, assillare, vessare |
| Ελληνικά | κυνηγάω kynigáo |
| Română | a se ține scai |
| Русский | пресле́довать preslédovatʹ, ста́лкерить stálkeritʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | bám đuôi, rình rập |
verb to walk haughtily
| Deutsch | stolzieren, einherstolzieren, staksen, stelzen, staken, steifbeinig gehen |
|---|---|
| Русский | вышагивать vyšagivatʹ |
Talk about this word "stalk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/stalk. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. stalk. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/stalk "stalk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/stalk.Cite this
@misc{stalk_2026,
title = {stalk},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/stalk},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
