stale

stale
    adj 1: lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration
           from age; "stale bread"; "the beer was stale" [ant:
           {fresh}]
    2: lacking originality or spontaneity; no longer new; "moth-
       eaten theories about race"; "stale news" [syn: {cold},
       {stale}, {dusty}, {moth-eaten}]
    v 1: urinate, of cattle and horses
    

Stale \Stale\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Staled} (st[=a]ld); p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Staling}.]
   To make vapid or tasteless; to destroy the life, beauty, or
   use of; to wear out.
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         Age can not wither her, nor custom stale
         Her infinite variety.                    --Shak.
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Stale \Stale\, v. i. [Akin to D. & G. stallen, Dan. stalle, Sw.
   stalla, and E. stall a stable. [root] 163. See {Stall}, n.,
   and cf. {Stale}, a.]
   To make water; to discharge urine; -- said especially of
   horses and cattle. --Hudibras.
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Stale \Stale\ (st[=a]l), n. [OE. stale, stele, AS. stael, stel;
   akin to LG. & D. steel, G. stiel; cf. L. stilus stake, stalk,
   stem, Gr. steleo`n a handle, and E. stall, stalk, n.]
   The stock or handle of anything; as, the stale of a rake.
   [Written also {steal}, {stele}, etc.]
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         But seeing the arrow's stale without, and that the head
         did go
         No further than it might be seen.        --Chapman.
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Stale \Stale\, n. [See {Stale}, a. & v. i.]
   1. That which is stale or worn out by long keeping, or by
      use. [Obs.]
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   2. A prostitute. [Obs.] --Shak.
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   3. Urine, esp. that of beasts. "Stale of horses." --Shak.
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Stale \Stale\, a. [Akin to stale urine, and to stall, n.;
   probably from Low German or Scandinavian. Cf. {Stale}, v. i.]
   1. Vapid or tasteless from age; having lost its life, spirit,
      and flavor, from being long kept; as, stale beer.
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   2. Not new; not freshly made; as, stale bread.
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   3. Having lost the life or graces of youth; worn out;
      decayed. "A stale virgin." --Spectator.
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   4. Worn out by use or familiarity; having lost its novelty
      and power of pleasing; trite; common. --Swift.
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            Wit itself, if stale is less pleasing. --Grew.
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            How weary, stale flat, and unprofitable
            Seem to me all the uses of this world! --Shak.
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   {Stale affidavit} (Law), an affidavit held above a year.
      --Craig.

   {Stale demand} (Law), a claim or demand which has not been
      pressed or demanded for a long time.
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Stale \Stale\, n. [Cf. OF. estal place, position, abode, market,
   F. ['e]tal a butcher's stall, OHG. stal station, place,
   stable, G. stall (see {Stall}, n.); or from OE. stale theft,
   AS. stalu (see {Steal}, v. t.).]
   1. Something set, or offered to view, as an allurement to
      draw others to any place or purpose; a decoy; a stool
      pigeon. [Obs.]
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            Still, as he went, he crafty stales did lay.
                                                  --Spenser.
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   2. A stalking-horse. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
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   3. (Chess) A stalemate. [Obs.] --Bacon.
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   4. A laughingstock; a dupe. [Obs.] --Shak.
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120 Moby Thesaurus words for "stale":
      allurement, antiquated, back-number, bait, banal, bewhiskered,
      blown, boring, bromidic, cliche, cliched, come-on, common,
      commonplace, corny, crumbling, cut-and-dried, dead, decoy,
      dilapidated, dilute, diluted, dry, dusty, enticement, fade,
      familiar, fetid, flat, flavorless, frowy, fusty, gamy, gone off,
      gone to seed, gruelly, hackney, hackneyed, hand-me-down, hardened,
      high, inane, indifferent, insipid, jejune, limp, mild, mildewed,
      milk-and-water, moldering, moldy, moss-grown, moth-eaten, mouldy,
      musty, noisome, off, old, old hat, old-fashioned, overused, pappy,
      platitudinous, pulpy, rancid, rank, reechy, reeking, rotten,
      ruined, ruinous, rusty, sapless, savorless, seducement, set,
      shopworn, smelly, snare, sour, soured, spiceless, spoiled, square,
      stenchy, stereotyped, stinking, stock, strong, tainted, tasteless,
      temptation, thin, threadbare, time-scarred, timeworn, tired,
      tiresome, trap, trite, truistic, turned, unflavored, unoriginal,
      unsavory, vapid, warmed-over, washy, watered, watered-down, watery,
      weak, weary, well-known, well-worn, wilted, wishy-washy, withered,
      worn, worn thin