Library / English Dictionary

STALK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A stiff or threatening gait

Synonyms:

angry walk; stalk

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("stalk" is a kind of...):

gait (a person's manner of walking)

Derivation:

stalk (walk stiffly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of following prey stealthily

Synonyms:

stalk; stalking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("stalk" is a kind of...):

chase; following; pursual; pursuit (the act of pursuing in an effort to overtake or capture)

Derivation:

stalk (follow stealthily or recur constantly and spontaneously to)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A hunt for game carried on by following it stealthily or waiting in ambush

Synonyms:

stalk; stalking; still hunt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("stalk" is a kind of...):

hunt; hunting (the work of finding and killing or capturing animals for food or pelts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stalk"):

deerstalking (stalking deer)

Derivation:

stalk (go through (an area) in search of prey)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ

Synonyms:

stalk; stem

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("stalk" is a kind of...):

plant organ (a functional and structural unit of a plant or fungus)

Meronyms (parts of "stalk"):

receptacle (enlarged tip of a stem that bears the floral parts)

leaf node; node ((botany) the small swelling that is the part of a plant stem from which one or more leaves emerge)

internode (a segment of a stem between two nodes)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stalk"):

bole; tree trunk; trunk (the main stem of a tree; usually covered with bark; the bole is usually the part that is commercially useful for lumber)

halm; haulm (stems of beans and peas and potatoes and grasses collectively as used for thatching and bedding)

culm (stem of plants of the Gramineae)

branch (a division of a stem, or secondary stem arising from the main stem of a plant)

corm (solid swollen underground bulb-shaped stem or stem base and serving as a reproductive structure)

bulb (a modified bud consisting of a thickened globular underground stem serving as a reproductive structure)

leafstalk; petiole (the slender stem that supports the blade of a leaf)

flower stalk; scape (erect leafless flower stalk growing directly from the ground as in a tulip)

stipe (supporting stalk or stem-like structure especially of a pistil or fern frond or supporting a mushroom cap)

caudex; stock (persistent thickened stem of a herbaceous perennial plant)

cladode; cladophyll; phylloclad; phylloclade (a flattened stem resembling and functioning as a leaf)

beanstalk (stem of a bean plant)

caudex (woody stem of palms and tree ferns)

axis (the main stem or central part about which plant organs or plant parts such as branches are arranged)

rhizome; rootstalk; rootstock (a horizontal plant stem with shoots above and roots below serving as a reproductive structure)

tuber (a fleshy underground stem or root serving for reproductive and food storage)

cutting; slip (a part (sometimes a root or leaf or bud) removed from a plant to propagate a new plant through rooting or grafting)

sporangiophore (stalk bearing one or more sporangia)

cane (a strong slender often flexible stem as of bamboos, reeds, rattans, or sugar cane)

petiolule (the stalk of a leaflet)

funicle; funiculus (the stalk of a plant ovule or seed)

filament (the stalk of a stamen)

corn stalk; cornstalk (the stalk of a corn plant)

carpophore (a slender stalk that furnishes an axis for a carpel)

gynophore (the stalk of a pistil that raises it above the receptacle)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds

Synonyms:

chaff; husk; shuck; stalk; straw; stubble

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("stalk" is a kind of...):

plant material; plant substance (material derived from plants)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stalk"):

bran (broken husks of the seeds of cereal grains that are separated from the flour by sifting)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Walk stiffly

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "stalk" is one way to...):

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The children stalk to the playground

Derivation:

stalk (a stiff or threatening gait)

stalker (someone who walks with long stiff strides)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Go through (an area) in search of prey

Example:

stalk the woods for deer

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "stalk" is one way to...):

follow; pursue (follow in or as if in pursuit)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The men stalk the area for animals

Derivation:

stalk (a hunt for game carried on by following it stealthily or waiting in ambush)

stalker (someone who prowls or sneaks about; usually with unlawful intentions)

stalker (someone who stalks game)

stalking (a hunt for game carried on by following it stealthily or waiting in ambush)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Follow stealthily or recur constantly and spontaneously to

Example:

the ghost of her mother haunted her

Synonyms:

haunt; stalk

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "stalk" is one way to...):

follow; pursue (follow in or as if in pursuit)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

stalk (the act of following prey stealthily)

Credits

 Context examples: 

In the body, a structure that has a peduncle (a stalk or stem) or is attached to another structure by a peduncle.

(Pedunculate, NCI Dictionary)

When the young leader lay in the snow and moved no more, One Eye stalked over to the she-wolf.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

One set stimulated prey pursuit behavior, such as stalking, and the other stimulated the animal to use its jaw and neck muscles.

(Geneticists produce laser-activated killer mice, Wikinews)

There was a momentary lull, broken by Hannah, who stalked in, laid two hot turnovers on the table, and stalked out again.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He walked past the couch to the open window, and held up the drooping stalk of a moss-rose, looking down at the dainty blend of crimson and green.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He included us all in a sweeping bow and stalked out of the room.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

How could I explain to her the situation, the strange man who stalked the sea like Destiny, all that it had taken me months to learn?

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Buck stalked into the open, half crouching, body gathered compactly together, tail straight and stiff, feet falling with unwonted care.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The fuller looked sadly and gravely at him; but finding that he still laughed, he bowed with much mock politeness and stalked onwards in his borrowed clothes.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The stalk of an inflorescence or of a solitary flower.

(Peduncle, Food and Drug Administration)