stall

Definitions


[stɔːl], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a stand, booth, or compartment for the sale of goods in a market or large covered area
(e.g: a market stall)

- an individual compartment for an animal in a stable or cowshed, enclosed on three sides

- a fixed seat in the choir or chancel of a church, enclosed at the back and sides and often canopied, typically reserved for a particular member of the clergy

- the seats on the ground floor in a theatre
(e.g: a stalls seat)

- an instance of an engine, vehicle, aircraft, or boat stalling
(e.g: speed must be maintained to avoid a stall and loss of control)


Phrases:
- set out one's stall

Origin:
Old English steall ‘stable or cattle shed’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch stal, also to stand. Early senses of the verb included ‘reside, dwell’ and ‘bring to a halt’


[stɔːl], (Verb)

Definitions:
- (of a motor vehicle or its engine) stop running, typically because of an overload on the engine
(e.g: her car stalled at the crossroads)

- stop or cause to stop making progress
(e.g: his career had stalled, hers taken off)

- speak or act in a deliberately vague way in order to gain more time to deal with something; prevaricate
(e.g: she was stalling for time)

- put or keep (an animal) in a stall, especially in order to fatten it
(e.g: the horses were stalled at Upper Bolney Farm)


Phrases:
- set out one's stall

Origin:
Old English steall ‘stable or cattle shed’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch stal, also to stand. Early senses of the verb included ‘reside, dwell’ and ‘bring to a halt’




definition by Oxford Dictionaries