Library / English Dictionary

STALL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A tactic used to mislead or delay

Synonyms:

stall; stalling

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

obstruction (the act of obstructing)

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

stonewalling (stalling or delaying especially by refusing to answer questions or cooperate)

Derivation:

stall (deliberately delay an event or action)

stall (postpone doing what one should be doing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Small area set off by walls for special use

Synonyms:

booth; cubicle; kiosk; stall

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

closet (a small private room for study or prayer)

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

confessional (a booth where a priest sits to hear confessions)

polling booth (a temporary booth in a polling place which people enter to cast their votes)

prompt box; prompter's box (a booth projecting above the floor in the front of a stage where the prompter sits; opens toward the performers on stage)

shower bath; shower stall (booth for washing yourself, usually in a bathroom)

call box; phone booth; telephone booth; telephone box; telephone kiosk (booth for using a telephone)

tolbooth; tollbooth; tollhouse (a booth at a tollgate where the toll collector collects tolls)

voting booth (a booth in which a person can cast a private vote)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Small individual study area in a library

Synonyms:

carrel; carrell; cubicle; stall

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

alcove; bay (a small recess opening off a larger room)

Holonyms ("stall" is a part of...):

depository library; library (a depository built to contain books and other materials for reading and study)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A booth where articles are displayed for sale

Synonyms:

sales booth; stall; stand

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

booth (a small shop at a fair; for selling goods or entertainment)

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

coffee stall (a stand (usually movable) selling hot coffee and food (especially at night))

newsstand (a stall where newspapers and other periodicals are sold)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A compartment in a stable where a single animal is confined and fed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

compartment (a partitioned section, chamber, or separate room within a larger enclosed area)

Holonyms ("stall" is a part of...):

horse barn; stable; stalls (a farm building for housing horses or other livestock)

Derivation:

stall (put into, or keep in, a stall)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Seating in the forward part of the main level of a theater

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

seating; seating area; seating room; seats (an area that includes places where several people can sit)

Domain region:

Britain; Great Britain; U.K.; UK; United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A malfunction in the flight of an aircraft in which there is a sudden loss of lift that results in a downward plunge

Example:

the plane went into a stall and I couldn't control it

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

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

malfunction (a failure to function normally)

Derivation:

stall (come to a stop)

stall (cause an airplane to go into a stall)

stall (experience a stall in flight, of airplanes)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Deliberately delay an event or action

Example:

she doesn't want to write the report, so she is stalling

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

delay; detain; hold up (cause to be slowed down or delayed)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

stall; stalling (a tactic used to mislead or delay)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Come to a stop

Example:

The car stalled in the driveway

Synonyms:

conk; stall

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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

halt; stop (come to a halt, stop moving)

Domain category:

driving (the act of controlling and steering the movement of a vehicle or animal)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

stall (a malfunction in the flight of an aircraft in which there is a sudden loss of lift that results in a downward plunge)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause an engine to stop

Example:

The inexperienced driver kept stalling the car

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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

stop (cause to stop)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Cause an airplane to go into a stall

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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

stop (cause to stop)

Domain category:

air; air travel; aviation (travel via aircraft)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

stall (a malfunction in the flight of an aircraft in which there is a sudden loss of lift that results in a downward plunge)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Experience a stall in flight, of airplanes

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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

halt; stop (come to a halt, stop moving)

Domain category:

air; air travel; aviation (travel via aircraft)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

stall (a malfunction in the flight of an aircraft in which there is a sudden loss of lift that results in a downward plunge)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Put into, or keep in, a stall

Example:

Stall the horse

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

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

shelter (provide shelter for)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

stall (a compartment in a stable where a single animal is confined and fed)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Postpone doing what one should be doing

Example:

He did not want to write the letter and procrastinated for days

Synonyms:

dilly-dally; dillydally; drag one's feet; drag one's heels; procrastinate; shillyshally; stall

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

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

delay (act later than planned, scheduled, or required)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stall"):

procrastinate (postpone or delay needlessly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

They stall a long time

Derivation:

stall (a tactic used to mislead or delay)

Credits

 Context examples: 

As a non-selective, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), piroxicam binds and chelates both isoforms of cyclooxygenases (COX1 and COX2), thereby stalling phospholipase A2 activity and conversion of arachidonic acid into prostaglandin precursors at the rate limiting cyclooxygenase enzyme step.

(Piroxicam, NCI Thesaurus)

Climate change will increase the size of stalled high-pressure weather systems called blocking events, which have already produced some of the 21st century's deadliest heat waves, according to a study by Rice University researchers.

(Stalled weather patterns will get bigger due to climate change, National Science Foundation)

In addition, it associates with CSA, CSB, or both proteins at the transcriptional pause sites to facilitate the resumption of transcript elongation without aborting the associated nascent transcript by pushing the stalled RNA polymerase II either forward or backward not only from the damaged site but also from some natural transcription pause sites.

(DNA Excision Repair Protein ERCC-5, NCI Thesaurus)

I am also the soldier that overset your stall.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

“See to the brave stalls!” cried Alleyne.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Striding through the scattered knots of people who lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook the little man and touched him upon the shoulder.

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

Specifically, they found that in this condition nerve cells in certain areas of the brain become stalled and are no longer able to remove toxins or old and dysfunctional brain cells, which is a naturally occurring process known as autophagy.

(New Mechanisms Found of Cell Death in Neurodegenerative Disorders, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

You must go straight on till you come to the castle where the horse stands in his stall: by his side will lie the groom fast asleep and snoring: take away the horse quietly, but be sure to put the old leathern saddle upon him, and not the golden one that is close by it.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

It was little wonder that the richness and ornament, not only of church and of stall, but of every private house as well, should have impressed itself upon the young squires.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke out from the stall which we had just left.

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