stale, a decoy; a bird or something in the form of a bird set up to allure a bird of prey; ‘The fowler’s stale the appearance of which brings but others to the net’, Cap of Gray Hairs (ed. 1688, p. 96); see Halliwell; Mirrour for Mag. (Nares); Sidney, Arcadia, ii, p. 169 (Nares); an object of allurement, Spenser, F. Q. vi. 10. 3; Tempest, iv. 1. 187; a device, trick, F. Q. ii. 1. 4; a laughing-stock, Titus And. i. 2. 241. In prov. use in Lincolnsh., see EDD. (s.v. Stale, sb.1). Anglo-F. estale, ‘appeau, oiseau qui sert à attirer les autres’ (Vocab. to Bozon).
stale, the shaft of an arrow, Chapman, tr. Iliad, iv. 173; the shaft of a javelin, Nomenclator (Nares). In prov. use in the sense of a shaft, a long slender handle, see EDD. (s.v. Stale, sb.2 1). See [stele].
stale, the urine of horses and cattle, Ant. and Cl. i. 4. 62 to urinate, Butler, Hud. iii. 1. 152; ‘Escloy, urine, stale’, Cotgrave. In prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Stale, vb.3). OF. estaler, to stale (of horses), see Godefroy. Of Germ, origin, cp. Dan. stalle, Swed. stalla, to urinate; cp. G. stallen (used of horses); stall, urine.
stale, stalemate, at chess; ‘Like a stale at chess, where it is no mate, but yet the game cannot stir’, Bacon, Essay 12.
stale, to render stale, to make common and worthless. Coriol. i. 1. 95; Ant. and Cl. ii. 2. 240; Jul. Caesar, i. 2. 73; a stale, a prostitute, harlot, Much Ado, ii. 2. 26; iv. 1. 66.
stall, to forestall. B. Jonson, Sejanus, iii. 1 (Tiberius); Massinger, Bashful Lover, iv. 3.
stall, to install set in authority, Richard III, i. 3. 206; ‘And stawled gods doe condiscend’, Turbervile, The Lover excuseth himself. Stalled to the rogue (Cant Phrase), admitted as a recognized thief, Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Moll); Harman, Caveat, p. 34. The master-thief admitted a rogue with the ceremony of pouring a quart of beer over his head, and using a formula of words.
stall, to stick fast; ‘When his cart was stalled (he) lay flat on his back and cried aloud, Help, Hercules!’, Burton, Anat. Mel., p. 222 (Nares). In prov. use in the north country and Midlands, see EDD. (s.v. Stall, vb. 20).
stalled, pp.; ‘Dole perpetuall, From whence he never should be quit, nor stal’d’ (rimes with cal’d), Spenser, Mother Hubberd, 1245. Meaning doubtful.
stalling ken, a house for receiving stolen goods (Cant). Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Tearcat); stauling ken, Harman, Caveat, p. 83; B. Jonson, Gipsies Metamorphosed (Jackman).