Forms: 3–6 stal, (5 stol), 4–6 stalle, 6–7 stawl(e, staule, 3– stall. [Several distinct formations appear to have coalesced. The vb. partly represents a ME. adoption of OF. estaller, estaler (see STALE v.), ultimately f. Teut. *stallo- STALL sb.1, and partly an English formation on STALL sb.1 It is probable also that in some uses it was a back-formation from ME. i-stald, pa. pple. of stellen to place (see STELL v.), OE. stęllan, f. Teut. *stallo- STALL sb.1, and in others a shortening of INSTALL and FORESTALL. (OE. had forþsteallian intr., to take place, but the simple vb. is not recorded).]
I. To place.
1. intr. To have one’s abode, dwell. Obs. exc. dial. in To stall with, to tolerate the presence of (another), to get on with.
c. 1315. Shoreham, Poems, III. 30. Þat hys þe blysse of heuene aboue, Þar holy soulen stalleþ.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., V. i. 39. Caesar Oh Anthony … I must perforce Haue shewne to thee such a declining day, Or looke on thine: we could not stall together, In the whole world.
1897. J. Gordon, Village & Doctor, [iv.] 138. Varney wondered whether the pious farmer was after the mother or daughter. ‘Depend on it,’ he said to me one day, ‘it is the young ’un; ’e never could stall with the old cat.’
2. trans. To assign a particular place to (a person or thing); to place.
1415. Hoccleve, Hen. V & Knts. Garter, 32. Dooth so and god in glorie shal yow stalle.
1423. James I., Kingis Q., 170. [Thow that] has all thing within thy hert[e] stallit, That may thy ȝouth oppressen or defade.
14[?]. Lydg., Order of Fools, 116, in Q. Eliz. Acad. (1869), 83. Who … lowde lawghys whan he dothe morne, Amonge foles of riȝt he may be stallyd.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., xxi. 202. Shall I neuer ete bred to that he be stald In the stokys.
1481. Caxton, Godfrey, Prol. 2. But thystorye of the sayd Arthur is so gloryous and shynyng, that he is stalled in the fyrst place of the moost noble, beste and worthyest of the cristen men.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, X. iv. 124. The mekle houk hym bayr was Tryton callit; For in hir foirstam was the monstre stallit.
1557. Phaër, Æneid, VI. (1558), R j b. All her sisters out she calles, Infernall hideous haggs, and to their turmentes them she stalles. Ibid., VII. T j. Now hie in heauen he sitts, and on the golden starrs is stalde.
1581. Derricke, Image Irel., II. F j b. (1883), 54. In highest place of all: The Cheeftaine then this traitrous knaue, like honest man doeth stall.
1594. R. C[arew], Tasso, III. 134. To Dudon … A Sepulchre of Cipresse sweete they stall, Their Barricados neere.
† 3. To fix, appoint beforehand. Obs.
14[?]. Beryn, 2610. For hir lawis been so streyt, & peynous ordinaunce Is stallid [but perh. read stablid] for hir falshede.
1532. Dice Play (Percy Soc.), 5. As I roamed in the Church of Pauls … looking for certain my companions, that hither might have stalled a meeting.
a. 1555. Gardiner, in Foxe, A. & M. (1563), 739. I know your Grace cannot staye these matters so sodenly, and I esteme it a great matter that thinges be stauld hetherto thus.
† 4. To agree to the payment of (a debt) by instalments; to fix (days) for payment by instalments. Cf. ESTALL 3. Obs.
1491. in Studer, Oak Bk. S’hampton (1910), I. 153. That … no Meire, ne Auditours shall stall’ no dayes with no persone, withoute graunte of comune Assemble.
1525. St. Papers Hen. VIII., VI. 462, marg. They be also sufficiently instructed, howe they shal ordre themself for stalling of days for part of the money due by thEmperour.
1558–9. Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889), 484. The somme of sixe score eight pounds, eleven shillings, seven pence, stallid as a debt to this citte.
1585–6. Earl Leycester, Corr. (Camden), 45. Hir majesty refuseth ether to pardon hym … or to stall his dett.
c. 1640. J. Smyth, Lives Berkeleys (1883), I. 107. And the residue of his debts … were stalled to bee payd by this lord at fower-score pounds a yeare.
a. 1670. Hacket, Abp. Williams, II. (1693), 128. He petition’d, that His Majesty would stall his Fine, and take it up as his Estate would bear it, by a Thousand Pounds a year.
fig. 1591. Spenser, M. Hubberd, 1245. And his false counsellor … [he chose] To damne to death, or dole perpetuall, From whence he neuer should be quit, nor stal’d.
a. 1631. Donne, Serm., Wks. 1839, IV. 154. Thou canst never promise thyself to sin … thriftly … and stall the fine; for thy soul, that is the price, is indivisible, and perishes entirely; and eternally at one payment.
† 5. To stall forth, out: to display or expose to view. Obs. rare.
1547. Bk. Merchauntes, c v b. They go fro town to town … to make their mustres and stall theyr marchandise.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, Estaler, to stalle out, or shew wares.
1608. D. T[uvill], Ess. Pol. & Mor., 101. Desirous (as it were) to stall foorth her treasures.
† 6. To strengthen, stablish. Obs.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 5186. We mightily to Messam our men send, To fecche vs som fode … And abundantly broght with buernes betwene For to stall our astate and our strenght hold.
II. To place in a ‘stall.’
† 7. To induct formally into a seat of rule or dignity; to enthrone (a king, a bishop, etc.); spec. to induct (a canon, a knight of the Garter or Bath) into his ‘stall.’ Hence, to place in a high office or dignity. = INSTALL v. 1. Obs.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 1334. Bot þenne þe bolde Baltazar, þat was his barn aldest, He was stalled in his stud, & stabled þe rengne.
c. 1384. Chaucer, H. Fame, 1364. But al on hye, above a dees, Sitte in a see imperial,… Y saugh perpetually y-stalled A femynyne creature.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VIII. 183. He was i-stalled at Lyncoln by þe archedecon.
c. 1407. Lydg., Reson & Sens., 253. For this is she that is stallyd And the quene of kynde called.
c. 1440. Brut, 466. Sir Robert Fitzhugh was stalled Bisshop of London in the see of Seint Paules.
1522. Stat. Order Garter, xiii. in Ashmole, Inst., etc. (1672), App. g 2/b. And that all such straungers … shall sende … a sufficient Deputie … to be stalled in his place.
a. 1562. G. Cavendish, Wolsey (1893), 97. They had a specyall commyssion to creat and stalle the Kyng’s Majestie in the Royall Order of Fraunce.
1565. Jewel, Def. Apol. (1611), 473. He … that being a wretched sinfull man, hath stalled himselfe in the place of God.
a. 1591. H. Smith, Six Serm. (1625), 91. When one stalleth vp another into Moses chaire, not hauing Moses Rod, nor Moses Spirit.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., I. iii. 206. Long may’st thou liue … And see another, as I see thee now, Deck’d in thy Rights, as thou art stall’d in mine.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., VI. 189. Where Kings were stall’d, disthron’d…, and crown’d.
1661. Morgan, Sph. Gentry, IV. iii. 40. This favour is done and shewed to them which may not well come in their proper persons that they might be stalled by attourneys.
† b. Cant. esp. in to stall (a beggar) to the rogue.
1567. Harman, Caveat, ii. (1869), 34. And if he mete any begger … he wyll demaund of him, whether euer he was stalled to the roge or no. If he saye he was, he wyll know … his name that stalled hym.
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, F 4. He ordered, that euery one … taking vpon him the occupation of begging, shal be stauled to the order of rogues.
1622. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, III. iii. Higgen [a beggar]. I … stall thee by the Salmon into the clows, To mand on the pad.
8. To put (an animal) in a stall; to keep or confine in a stall, esp. for fattening; also to stall to (a particular kind of food), to stall up.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 124. A Monthe, which … The Plowed Oxe in wynter stalleth; And fyr into the halle he bringeth.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, lxi. 28. (Petit. Gray Horse) I wald at Ȝoull be housit and stald.
1530. Palsgr., 732/1. I stall an ox to fede him fatte, je mets en estal.
1588. Kyd, Househ. Philos., Wks. (1901), 246. The flesh of wild Beasts … is not so soone puft vp and fattened as those Beasts that commonly are stald and foddered.
1641. J. Jackson, True Evang. T., III. 205. So farre from … stalling the Oxe and Lyon together.
1764. Museum Rust., III. 7. As to oxen, we have them to the full as good, when stalled to turneps, carrots, &c. as if they were fed in the finest fatting grounds.
1837. Flemish Husb., 62, in Libr. Usef. Kn., Husb., III. An ox kept stalled up for six or eight months and well fed, will double his original weight.
1850. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., XI. I. 89. I much prefer penning to stalling the sheep.
1894. K. Grahame, Pagan Papers, 79. On the other hand, can you stall the wild ass of the desert?
transf. and fig. 1553. Eden, Treat. New Ind. (Arb.), 30, marg. Young men stalled to be made fatte.
1581. Mulcaster, Positions, vi. (1887), 41. Olde Asclepiades is by Galene confuted, and stawled for an asse.
1601. Shaks., All’s Well, I. iii. 131. Praie you leaue mee, stall this in your bosome, and I thanke you for your honest care.
1839. Bailey, Festus (1848), 61. I saw the sun-god stall his flaming steeds In customary splendour.
b. intr. Of cattle: To be lodged in stalls.
1805–6. Cary, Dante, Inf., XXV. 28. He [Cacus] … here must tread A different journey, for his fraudful theft Of the great herd that near him stall’d.
III. To come or bring to a stand.
† 9. intr. a. Of a beast of the chase: To come to a stand. b. Of an army: To take up a position for combat. Obs.
c. 1400. Master of Game (MS. Digby 182), ii. And þen he maketh a ruse in some side and þere he stalleth or squatteth. Ibid., xxvi. Sometyme an herte wille stalle and looke aboute a gret while.
c. 1450. Merlin, x. 161. And ther thei stalleden and foughten the ton vpon the tother.
a. 1562. G. Cavendish, Wolsey (1893), 89. The boore issued owt of his denne, chaced with an hound in to the playn, and beyng there, stalled a whyle gasyng uppon the people.
† 10. trans. To bring (a hunted animal) to a stand. Also transf. (Cf. FORESTALL v. 1.) Obs.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., A. 188. I dred … Lest ho me eschaped þat I þer chos, Er I at steuen hir moȝt stalle.
1599. Shaks., etc. Pass. Pilgr., xix. When as thine eye hath chose the dame, And stall’d the deer that thou shouldst strike.
† 11. To bring to a standstill, render unable to proceed. lit. and fig. Obs.
c. 1591. Epit. Sidney, 2, in R. S., Phœnix Nest (1593), 10. Stald are my thoughts, which loud, and lost, the wonder of our age.
1598. Florio, Ital. Dict., Ep. Ded. a 4. If I, who many yeeres haue made profession of this toong,… in many wordes haue beene so stal’d, and stabled, as such sticking made me blushinglie confesse my ignorance [etc.].
1603. B. Jonson, Sejanus, III. i. 393. [Silius stabs himself.] Tib. We are not pleased in this sad accident That thus hath stalled, and abus’d our mercy.
1650. May, Old Couple, III. (1658), 24. The time will be too short To get a pardon, specially as I Have lay’d some friends to stall it underhand.
1656. Baxter, Reformed Pastor, viii. 465. See that you preach to such auditors as these, some higher points, that stall their understandings, and feed them not all with milk, but sometime with stronger ment. Ibid. (1675), Cath. Theol., II. 98. And he that is stalled with the question, ‘Can a Sinner leave his Sin, and love goodness?’ would easily answer, [sc. if he understood the question to mean] ‘Whether he be willing to do it? Yea.’
b. esp. in pass. To become stuck (in mud, mire, a snowdrift, etc.). Now only U.S. or dial.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., III. 525. These floodis ar gone fader, behold…. As still as a stone oure ship is stold.
1621. Burton, Anat. Mel., II. i. II. i. 291. Like him in Æsope, that when his cart was stalled, lay flat on his backe and cryed aloud helpe Hercules.
1790. W. H. Marshall, Midlands, II. 443. To be stalled; to be set fast in a slough, or bad road.
1821. Clare, Vill. Minstr., xliv. He knew no troubles waggoners have known, Of getting stall’d, and such disasters drear.
1864. Lowell, McClellan’s Rep., Prose Wks. 1890, V. 100. He plunged into that Dismal Swamp of constitutional hermeneutics, in which the wheels of government were stalled at the outbreak of our rebellion.
1897. H. Porter, Campaigning with Grant, x. 164. The general came in sight of a teamster whose waggon was stalled in a place where it was somewhat swampy.
c. Mech. (See quot.)
1914. Hamel & Turner, Flying, X. 198. He permitted the machine to lose speed until it had become what is known as ‘stalled,’—that momentary pause before the machine turns over on its side or nose and falls.
12. To take away (a person’s) appetite; to satiate, surfeit with, of. Now dial. and Sc.
Prob. sometimes associated with sense 8; cf. the definition ‘Stall, to over-feed, to make fat, to stuff, etc.’ (Dyche & Pardon, 1735).
1583. Melbancke, Philotimus, M j b. Sith … you were stauled with yester dayes Disputation, I will prescribe you certaine Inductions to be performed at the Vniuersitie.
1690. W. Walker, Idiomat. Anglo-Lat., 139. I can never be stalled with that delight.
1787. Burns, To Haggis, v. Is there that owre his french ragout, Or olio that wad staw a sow.
1816. Scott, Old Mort., i. Which of them would sit six hours on a wet hill-side to hear a godly sermon? I trow an hour o’t wad staw them.
1875. W. D. Parish, Sussex Gloss., s.v. Stalled.… ‘Aint you fairly stalled of waiting?’
b. To cause aversion in, cause to turn away; also with off. Now rare.
1642. Fuller, Holy & Prof. St., II. vii. 74. Mathematicks he moderately studieth to his great contentment. Using it as ballast for his soul, yet to fix it not to stall it.
1856. Dickens, Lett. (1880), I. 448. It conveyed … an idea of incompleteness … and is likely to stall some readers off.
1874. Slang Dict., 308. Stall, to frighten or discourage.
† 13. = FORESTALL v. 2 b. Obs.
1474. Coventry Leet-bk., 401. That no maner of man nor woman schall not stalle nor Regrate no markett.
IV. 14. To furnish (a choir, chancel) with stalls as seats.
1516. in Willis & Clark, Cambridge (1886), II. 243. The Qwyer … shall be double staulled.
1857. Yorksh. Archæol. Jrnl., XV. 490. The chancel is stalled.
