出典:『Wiktionary』 (2026/03/16 01:30 UTC 版)
形容詞
stale (comparative staler, superlative stalest)
- (obsolete, of alcohol) Clear, free of dregs and lees; old and strong.
- No longer fresh, in reference to food, urine, straw, wounds, etc.
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Synonym: fusty
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Near-synonyms: gone bad, spoiled; see also Thesaurus:rotten
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- c. 1550, Wyll of Deuill, C 2 b:
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New freshe blood to ouersprinkle their stale mete that it may seme...newly kylled.
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2012, Stephen Woodworth, In Golden Blood: Number 3 in series:
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To her surprise, Abe did not come to collect her for the usual morning inhabitation session with Azure. She did not see him until almost noon, when he personally delivered lunch to her tent. Another stale roll and cup of water sat on the tray he carried. Abe hung his head, as abashed as Honorato had been. “This is all I could sneak in for now. I'll try to get more later.”
- No longer fresh, new, or interesting, in reference to ideas and immaterial things; clichéd, hackneyed, dated.
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Synonyms: banal, played out, trite; see also Thesaurus:hackneyed
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1562, Proverbs & Epigrams, J. Heywood, published 1867, section 95:
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Better is...be it new or stale, A harmelesse lie, than a harmefull true tale.
- 1579, in G. Harvey, letter book, 60:
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Doist thou smyle to reade this stale and beggarlye stuffe.
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c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], line 133:
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- (obsolete) No longer nubile or suitable for marriage, in reference to people; past one's prime.
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Synonyms: matronly, past it
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Near-synonyms: over the hill; see also Thesaurus:elderly
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c. 1580, J. Jeffere, Bugbears, I ii 108:
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Rosimunda...hathe an vncle a stale batcheler.
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1742, T. Short, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 42 226:
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In barren Women, and stale Maids, Tapping should be very cautiously undertaken.
- (in general) Not new or recent; having been in place or in effect for some time.
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Synonyms: antediluvian, eldern, venerable; see also Thesaurus:old
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2014, David L. Hough, Street Strategies for Motorcyclists:
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In most states, you can be ticketed for failing to clear the intersection, even if you are hemmed in by traffic. One good clue to a stale green light is the pedestrian signal.
- (agriculture, obsolete) Fallow, in reference to land.
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1764, Museum Rusticum, II 306:
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Lime would do very little or no good on stale ploughed lands.
- (law) Unreasonably long in coming, in reference to claims and actions.
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a stale affidavit
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a stale demand
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1769, William Blackstone, Common Laws of England, IV xv 211:
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The jury will rarely give credit to a stale complaint.
- Worn out, particularly due to age or over-exertion, in reference to athletes and animals in competition.
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Synonyms: clapped out, decrepit, passé; see also Thesaurus:deteriorated
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1856, “Stonehenge”, in Manual of British Rural Sports, II i vi §7 335:
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By this means the [horse's] legs are not made more stale than necessary.
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1885 May 28, Truth, 853 2:
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Dame Agnes will probably be stale after her exertions in the Derby.
- (finance) Out of date, unpaid for an unreasonable amount of time, particularly in reference to checks.
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1901, Business Terms & Phrases, second edition, 199:
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Stale cheque,...a cheque which has remained unpaid for some considerable time.
- (computing) Of data: out of date; not synchronized with the newest copy.
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The bug was found to be caused by stale data in the cache.
使用する際の注意点
In the sense regarding food, usually (but not always) pejorative and synonymous with gone bad and turned. In reference to mead, wine, and bread, it can describe an acceptable or desired state (see crouton). In modern English, however, "stale beer" has been light struck, flat, or oxidized and is to be avoided.
派生語
- stale-dated
- stale drunk
- stale-grown
- stale-mouthed
- stale read
- stale-smelling
- stale-worn
名詞
stale (plural stales)
- (colloquial) Something stale; a loaf of bread or the like that is no longer fresh.
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1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, II iii 39:
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I went to Riggs's batty-cake shop, and asked 'em for a penneth of the cheapest and nicest stales, that were all but blue-mouldy, but not quite.
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1937, George Orwell, Road to Wigan Pier, I i 15:
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Frayed-looking sweet-cakes...bought as ‘stales’ from the baker.
動詞
stale (third-person singular simple present stales, present participle staling, simple past and past participle staled)
- (obsolete, transitive, of alcohol) To make stale; to age in order to clear and strengthen (a drink, especially beer).
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c. 1440, Promp. Parv., 472 1:
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Stalyn, or make stale drynke, defeco.
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1826, Art of Brewing, second edition, 106:
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A stock of old porter should be kept, sufficient for staling the consumption of twelve months.
- (transitive) To make stale; to cause to go out of fashion or currency; to diminish the novelty or interest of, particularly by excessive exposure or consumption.
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1601, Ben Jonson, Fountaine of Self-love, section 36:
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Ile goe tell all the Argument of his Play aforehand, and so stale his Inuention to the Auditory before it come foorth.
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1598, Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Euery Man in His Humour. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act I, scene iv:
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c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], line 241:
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- (intransitive) To become stale; to grow odious from excessive exposure or consumption.
- (intransitive, of alcohol) To become stale; to grow unpleasant from age.
名詞
stale (plural stales)
- A long, thin handle (of rakes, axes, etc.)
- (dialectal) One of the posts or uprights of a ladder.
- One of the rungs on a ladder.
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1792, Thomas Paine, A Rod in Brine, or a tickler for T. Paine, page 16:
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To begin then: not long before this paragraph was written, P fell into doze, and dreamt, he saw Jacob's ladder with one foot standing on the earth, the other reaching up into heaven. Dukes, Marquisses, and other Peers, fancy represented to him, as standing on the upper stales; on the middle ones, Knights and Baronets, and under them, a train of Esquires and Gentlemen, reaching to the bottom.
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1834, Joseph Adshead, A Circumstantial Narrative of the Wreck of the Rothsay, page 236:
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Mr. Marsden managed, by dint of swimming, to come in contact with the form, to which hemself and friend had previously fixed the cord and thrown overboard; but this, from its shape, would have proved, in all probability, but a doubtful means of escape, had he not, after a time, fallen in with a small ladder, which he affixed with the cord to the form, placing his leg between the stales, and resting his body, sometimes at full length, when the breakers had fallen on the form.
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- (botany, obsolete) The stem of a plant.
- The shaft of an arrow, spear, etc.
名詞
stale (plural stales)
- (military, obsolete) A fixed position, particularly a soldier's in a battle-line.
- (chess, uncommon) A stalemate; a stalemated game.
- (military, obsolete) An ambush.
- (obsolete) A band of armed men or hunters.
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c. 1540, H. Boece, translated by J. Bellenden, Hyst. & Cron. Scotl., XII xvi 184:
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The staill past throw the wod with sic noyis...yat all the bestis wer rasit fra thair dennys.
- 1577, R. Holinshed, Hist. Scotl., 471 2 in Chron., I:
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The Lard of Drunlanrig lying al thys while in ambush...forbare to breake out to gyue anye charge vppon his enimies, doubting least the Earle of Lennox hadde kept a stale behynde.
- (Scotland, military, obsolete) The main force of an army.
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1532, State Papers Henry VIII, published 1836, IV 626:
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Neveryeles I knaw asweill by Englisemen as Scottishmen that their stale was no les then thre thowsand men.
派生語
- flying stale
- hold one's stale
- in stale
形容詞
stale (not comparable)
- (chess, obsolete) At a standstill; stalemated.
- c. 1470, Ashmolean MS 344, 21:
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Then drawith he & is stale.
動詞
stale (third-person singular simple present stales, present participle staling, simple past and past participle staled)
- (chess, uncommon, transitive) To stalemate.
- c. 1470, Ashmole MS 344, 7:
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He shall stale þe black kyng in the pointe þer the crosse standith.
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1903, H. J. R. Murray, Brit. Chess. Mag., section 283:
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In China, however, a player who stales his opponent's King, wins the game.
- (chess, obsolete, intransitive) To be stalemated.
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1597, A. Montgomerie, Cherrie & Slae, section 202:
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For vnder cuire I got sik check, that I micht neither muife nor neck, bot ather stale or mait.
語源 4
Noun from 中期英語 stale, from Anglo-Norman estal (“urine”), from Middle Dutch stal (“urine”). Cognate with Middle Low German stal (“horse urine; bowel movement”). Verb from 中期英語 stalen, from Old French estaler (“urinate”), related to Middle High German stallen (“to piss”).
名詞
stale (uncountable)
- (livestock, obsolete) Urine, especially used of horses and cattle.
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1535, the Bible, translated by Miles Coverdale, Isaiah, XXXVI.100:
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[…] That they be not compelled to eate their owne donge, and drinke their owne stale with you?
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1548, Robert Record, Vrinal of Physick, XI.89:
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The stale of Camels and Goats […] is good for them that have the dropsie.
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1583, B. Melbancke, Philotimus:
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Or annoint thy selfe with the stale of a mule.
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1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 48, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
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c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv], line 62:
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派生語
- blood-stale
- stale-foul
- to have a rod in stale
動詞
stale (third-person singular simple present stales, present participle staling, simple past and past participle staled)
- (livestock, obsolete, intransitive) To urinate, especially used of horses and cattle.
- 15th century, Lawis Gild, X in Ancient Laws and Customs of the Burghs of Scotland, 68:
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Gif ony stal in the yet of the gilde...he sall gif iiijd. to the mendis.
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1614 November 10 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Beniamin Iohnson [i.e., Ben Jonson], Bartholmew Fayre: A Comedie, […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot, […], published 1631, →OCLC, Act I, scene iv, page 8:
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c. 1920, Aleister Crowley, Leigh Sublime:
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You stale like a mare
And fart as you stale
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1928, Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Penguin, published 2013, page 35:
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A mile or two before we got to the meet he stopped at an inn, where he put our horses into the stable for twenty minutes, ‘to give them a chance to stale’.
使用する際の注意点
Occasionally transitive, when in reference to horses or men pissing blood.
参考
- piss like a racehorse (vulgar idiom)
語源 5
From 中期英語 stale (“bird used as a decoy”), probably from uncommon Anglo-Norman estale (“pigeon used to lure hawks”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic, probably *standaną (“to stand”). Compare 古期英語 stælhran (“decoy reindeer”) and Northumbrian stællo (“catching fish”).
名詞
stale (plural stales)
- (falconry, hunting, obsolete) A live bird to lure birds of prey or others of its kind into a trap.
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1579, Thomas North, “Sylla”, in Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, section 515:
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Like vnto the fowlers, that by their stales draw other birdes into their nets.
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1608, Ludovico Ariosto, translated by R. Tofte, Satyres, IV 56:
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A wife thats more then faire is like a stale, Or chanting whistle which brings birds to thrall.
- (obsolete) Any lure, particularly in reference to people used as live bait.
- c. 1529, "The Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng", 324, in John Skelton, Certayne Bokes:
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She ran in all the hast
Vnbrased and vnlast...
It was a stale to take
the deuyll in a brake.
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1577, Raphael Holinshed, “The Historie of England, from the Time that It Was First Inhabited, Vntill the Time that It Was Last Conquered”, in Chronicles, 79 2:
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The Britaynes woulde oftentimes...lay their Cattell...in places conueniente, to bee as a stale to the Romaynes, and when the Romaynes shoulde make to them to fetche the same away,...they would fall vpon them.
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1579, J. Stubbs, Discouerie Gaping Gulf:
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Her daughter Margerit was the stale to lure...them that otherwise flewe hyghe...and could not be gotten.
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1615, George Sandys, A Relation of a Iourney begun An: Dom: 1610, I 66:
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...many of the Coffamen keeping beaytifull boyes, who ſerue as ſtales to procure them cuſtomers.
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1670, J. Eachard, Grounds Contempt of Clergy, section 88:
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Six-pence or a shilling to put into the Box, for a stale to decoy in the rest of the Parish.
- (crime, obsolete) An accomplice of a thief or criminal acting as bait.
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1526, W. Bonde, Pylgrimage of Perfection, section III:
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Their mynisters, be false bretherne or false sustern, stales of the deuyll.
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1633, S. Marmion, Fine Compan., III iv:
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This is Captain Whibble, the Towne stale, For all cheating imployments.
- (obsolete) a partner whose beloved abandons or torments him in favor of another.
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1578, J. Lyly, Euphues, section 33:
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I perceiue Lucilla (sayd he) that I was made thy stale, and Philautus thy laughinge stocke.
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1588, T. Hughes, Misfortunes Arthur, I ii 3:
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Was I then chose and wedded for his stale?
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1611, T. Middleton et al., Roaring Girle:
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Did I for this loose all my friends...to be made A stale to a common whore?
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c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], line 100:
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c. 1619–1623, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Little French Lawyer”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act III, scene iv:
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- (obsolete) A patsy, a pawn, someone used under some false pretext to forward another's (usu. sinister) designs; a stalking horse.
- 1580, E. Grindal in 1710, J. Strype, Hist. E. Grindal, 252:
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That of the two nominated, one should be an unfit Man, and as it were a Stale, to bring the Office to the other.
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c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], line 260:
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- (crime, obsolete) A prostitute of the lowest sort; any wanton woman.
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1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], line 23:
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c. 1641, Ralph Montagu, Acts & Monuments, section 265:
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...detesting as he said the insatiable impudency of a prostitute Stale.
- (hunting, obsolete) Any decoy, either stuffed or manufactured.
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1681, J. Flavell, Method of Grace, XXXV 588:
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'Tis the living bird that makes the best stale to draw others into the net.
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1888, G. M. Fenn, Dick o' the Fens, section 53:
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If my live birds aren't all drownded and my stales spoiled.
動詞
stale (third-person singular simple present stales, present participle staling, simple past and past participle staled)
- (rare, obsolete, transitive) To serve as a decoy, to lure.
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1557, Tottel's Misc., section 198:
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The eye...Doth serue to stale her here and there where she doth come and go.
参照
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary. "Stale, adj. 1" & "n. 7".
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary. "Stale, n. 2" & "v. 4".
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary. "Stale, n. 4", "n. 6", "v. 3", and "adj. 2".
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary. "Stale, n. 5" and "v. 1".
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary. "Stale, n. 3" & "v. 5".
アナグラム
- setal, steal, ETLAs, tesla, telas, Astle, tales, least, Tesla, salet, slate, Teals, stela, Slate, Sleat, lates, leats, 'least, laste, teals, taels
古期英語
名詞
stale
- inflection of stalu:
- nominative plural
- accusative singular/plural
- genitive/dative singular
中期英語
語源 1
From Anglo-Norman estal (“urine”).
名詞
stale (uncountable)
- (Late Middle English, hapax legomenon) urine
- 14th c., Stockh. Medical MS. in Anglia XVIII.299:
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In werd ben men & women […] þat þer stale mown not holde.
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(please add an English translation of this quotation)
派生した語
- English: stale
- Yola: sthall
名詞
stale (plural stales)
- An upright of a ladder.
- A rung in a ladder; tier.
- The posts and rungs composing a ladder.
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c. 1315, Shoreham Poems, I 49:
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Þis ilke laddre is charite, Þe stales gode þeawis.
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(please add an English translation of this quotation)
- A long, thin handle (of rakes, axes, etc.)
- 12th century, Sidonius Glosses in Anecd. Oxon., I v 59 22:
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Ansae et ansulae alicuius rei sunt illa eminentia in illa re per quam capi possit .i. ‘stale’.
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(please add an English translation of this quotation)
- c. 1393, Langland, Piers Plowman (Vesp. MS), C xxii 279:
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And lerede men a ladel bygge with a long stale.
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(please add an English translation of this quotation)
- A shoot of a plant.
名詞
stale
- a fixed position, particularly a soldier's in a battle-line
- c. 1450, in C. L. Kingsford, Chrons. London (1905), 123:
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And at pavelen...þe Erle of Dorzet helde is stale, and þer he toke prisoners.
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(please add an English translation of this quotation)
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1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, V xi 179:
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And syr Florence with his C knyghtes alwey kepte the stale and foughte manly.
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(please add an English translation of this quotation)
- (chess) A stalemate; a stalemated game.
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1423, Kingis Quair, section CLXIX:
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‘Off mate?’ quod sche...‘thou has fundin stale This mony day’.
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(please add an English translation of this quotation)
- an ambush
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c. 1425, Wyntoun Cron., IX viii 811:
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And he in stale howyd al stil.
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(please add an English translation of this quotation)
- a band of armed men or hunters
- c. 1350, in N. H. Nicolas, Hist. Royal Navy (1847), II 491:
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[Every time that it shall be ordered..that armed men..shall land on the enemy's coast to seek victuals... then there shall be ordained a sufficient ‘stale’ of armed men and archers who shall wait together on the land until the ‘forreiours’ return to them].
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(please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 14th century, Morte Arthur, 1355:
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[Gawayne] sterttes owtte to hys stede, and with his stale wendes.
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(please add an English translation of this quotation)
形容詞
stale
- (alcoholic beverages) clear, free of dregs and lees; old and strong
- c. 1300, K. Horn (Laud), 383:
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Bi forn þe king abenche Red win to schenche And after mete stale Boþe win and ale.
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(please add an English translation of this quotation)
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c. 1386, Geoffrey Chaucer, Sir Thopas, section 52:
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Notemuge to putte in ale, Whether it be moyste or stale
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(please add an English translation of this quotation)