Stale

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Stale, n. [OE. stale, stele, AS. stæl, 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.  [1913 Webster]
"But seeing the arrow's stale without, and that the head did go
No further than it might be seen."  [1913 Webster]

Stale, a. [Akin to stale urine, and to stall, n.; probably from Low German or Scandinavian. Cf. Stale, v. i.].

•  Vapid or tasteless from age; having lost its life, spirit, and flavor, from being long kept; as, stale beer.  [1913 Webster]
•  Not new; not freshly made; as, stale bread.  [1913 Webster]
•  Having lost the life or graces of youth; worn out; decayed.  Spectator.  [1913 Webster]
•  Worn out by use or familiarity; having lost its novelty and power of pleasing; trite; common.  Swift.  [1913 Webster]

  "Wit itself, if stale is less pleasing."  [1913 Webster]

  "How weary, stale flat, and unprofitable
  Seem to me all the uses of this world!"  [1913 Webster]

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.

Stale, v. t. 

 To make vapid or tasteless; to destroy the life, beauty, or use of; to wear out.  [1913 Webster]
"Age can not wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety."  [1913 Webster]

Stale, v. i. [Akin to D. & G. stallen, Dan. stalle, Sw. stalla, and E. stall a stable. Stall, n., and cf. Stale, a.].

 To make water; to discharge urine; -- said especially of horses and cattle.  Hudibras.  [1913 Webster]

Stale, n. [See Stale, a. & v. i.].

•  That which is stale or worn out by long keeping, or by use.  [1913 Webster]
•  A prostitute.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  Urine, esp. that of beasts.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

Stale, n. [Cf. OF. estal place, position, abode, market, F. étal 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.).].

•  Something set, or offered to view, as an allurement to draw others to any place or purpose; a decoy; a stool pigeon.  [1913 Webster]

  "Still, as he went, he crafty stales did lay."  [1913 Webster]
•  A stalking-horse.  B. Jonson.  [1913 Webster]
•  A stalemate.  Bacon.  [1913 Webster]
•  A laughingstock; a dupe.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Stale, adj. & v.
--adj. (staler, stalest)
1 a not fresh, not quite new (stale bread is best for toast). b musty, insipid, or otherwise the worse for age or use.
2 trite or unoriginal (a stale joke; stale news).
3 (of an athlete or other performer) having ability impaired by excessive exertion or practice.
4 Law (esp. of a claim) having been left dormant for an unreasonably long time.
--v.tr. & intr. make or become stale.

Derivative

stalely adv. staleness n.

Stale, n. & v.
--n. the urine of horses and cattle.
--v.intr. (esp. of horses and cattle) urinate.

Etymology

ME, perh. f. OF estaler adopt a position (cf. STALE(1))

THESAURUS

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

ROGET THESAURUS

Stale

Inutility

N inutility, uselessness, inefficacy, futility, ineptitude, inaptitude, unsubservience, inadequacy, inefficiency, unskillfulness, disservice, unfruitfulness (unproductiveness), labor in vain, labor lost, labor of Sisyphus, lost trouble, lost labor, work of Penelope, sleeveless errand, wild goose chase, mere farce, tautology, supererogation, vanitas vanitatum, vanity, inanity, worthlessness, nugacity, triviality, caput mortuum, waste paper, dead letter, blunt tool, litter, rubbish, junk, lumber, odds and ends, cast-off clothes, button top, shoddy, rags, orts, trash, refuse, sweepings, scourings, offscourings, waste, rubble, debris, detritus, stubble, leavings, broken meat, dregs, weeds, tares, rubbish heap, dust hole, rudera, deads, fruges consumere natus, useless, inutile, inefficacious, futile, unavailing, bootless, inoperative, inadequate, inservient, unsubservient, inept, inefficient, of no avail, ineffectual, incompetent, stale, flat and unprofitable, superfluous, dispensable, thrown away, abortive, worthless, valueless, priceless, unsalable, not worth a straw, dear at any price, vain, empty, inane, gainless, profitless, fruitless, unserviceable, unprofitable, ill-spent, unproductive, hors de combat, effete, past work, obsolete, fit for the dust hole, good for nothing, of no earthly use, not worth having, not worth powder and shot, leading to no end, uncalled for, unnecessary, unneeded, uselessly, to little purpose, to no purpose, to little or no purpose, Int, cui bono?, what's the good!, actum ne agas, chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin, tanto buon che val niente.

Deterioration

N deterioration, debasement, wane, ebb, recession, retrogradation, decrease, degeneracy, degeneration, degenerateness, degradation, depravation, depravement, devolution, depravity, demoralization, retrogression, masochism, impairment, inquination, injury, damage, loss, detriment, delaceration, outrage, havoc, inroad, ravage, scath, perversion, prostitution, vitiation, discoloration, oxidation, pollution, defoedation, poisoning, venenation, leaven, contamination, canker, corruption, adulteration, alloy, decline, declension, declination, decadence, decadency, falling off, caducity, decrepitude, decay, dilapidation, ravages of time, wear and tear, corrosion, erosion, moldiness, rottenness, moth and rust, dry rot, blight, marasmus, atrophy, collapse, disorganization, delabrement (destruction), aphid, Aphis, plant louse, puceron, vinefretter, vinegrub, wreck, mere wreck, honeycomb, magni nominis umbra, jade, plug, rackabones, skate, tackey, tacky, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate, Adj, unimproved &c (improve), deteriorated, altered, altered for the worse, injured, sprung, withering, spoiling, on the wane, on the decline, tabid, degenerate, marescent, worse, the worse for, all the worse for, out of repair, out of tune, imperfect, the worse for wear, battered, weathered, weather-beaten, stale, passe, shaken, dilapidated, frayed, faded, wilted, shabby, secondhand, threadbare, worn, worn to a thread, worn to a shadow, worn to the stump, worn to rags, reduced, reduced to a skeleton, far gone, tacky, decayed, moth-eaten, worm-eaten, mildewed, rusty, moldy, spotted, seedy, time-worn, moss-grown, discolored, effete, wasted, crumbling, moldering, rotten, cankered, blighted, tainted, depraved, decrepid, decrepit, broke, busted, broken, out of commission, hors de combat, out of action, broken down, done, done for, done up, worn out, used up, finished, beyond saving, fit for the dust hole, fit for the wastepaper basket, past work, at a low ebb, in a bad way, on one's last legs, undermined, deciduous, nodding to its fall, tottering, past cure, fatigued, retrograde, deleterious, out of the frying pan into the fire, agrescit medendo, what a falling off was there!.

Oldness

N oldness, age, antiquity, cobwebs of antiquity, maturity, decline, decay, senility, seniority, eldership, primogeniture, archaism, thing of the past, relic of the past, megatherium, Sanskrit, tradition, prescription, custom, immemorial usage, common law, old, ancient, antique, of long standing, time-honored, venerable, elder, eldest, firstborn, prime, primitive, primeval, primigenous, paleolontological, paleontologic, paleoanthropological, paleoanthropic, paleolithic, primordial, primordinate, aboriginal, diluvian, antediluvian, protohistoric, prehistoric, antebellum, colonial, precolumbian, patriarchal, preadamite, paleocrystic, fossil, paleozoolical, paleozoic, preglacial, antemundane, archaic, classic, medieval, Pre-Raphaelite, ancestral, black-letter, immemorial, traditional, prescriptive, customary, whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contr, inveterate, rooted, antiquated, of other times, rococo, of the old school, after-age, obsolete, out of date, out of fashion, out of it, stale, old-fashioned, behind the age, old-world, exploded, gone out, gone by, passe, run out, senile, time worn, crumbling, secondhand, old as the hills, old as Methuselah, old as Adam, old as history, Archeozoic, Proterozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic, Precambrian, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary, Paleogene, Neocene, Quaternary, Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, Recent, since the world was made, since the year one, since the days of Methuselah, vetera extollimus recentium incuriosi.

Insipidity

N insipidity, blandness, tastelessness, bland, void of taste, insipid, tasteless, gustless, savorless, ingustible, mawkish, milk and water, weak, stale, flat, vapid, fade, wishy-washy, mild, untasted.