1(of an object or structure) not likely to give way or overturn; firmly fixed.

1. 1.1 (of a patient or their medical condition) not deteriorating in health after an injury or operation.
   he is now in a stable condition in hospital

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Martinez says his shoulder feels more stable, but after failing to make 30 starts in any of the previous three seasons, he offers no guarantees.
   • Medically stable patients with intramural hematoma usually are managed conservatively with bowel rest.
   • Eight stable patients with brain damage and 10 normal adults were studied.
   • Well, people with chronic illnesses should make sure their medical condition is stable before they travel.
   • Initial assessments were conducted every 15 minutes and then hourly once the patient's condition was stable.
   • Recognition that the spleen had ruptured was delayed because of the patient's stable clinical condition and lack of coexisting symptoms of infectious mononucleosis.
   • Horn remained in critical but stable condition at University Medical Center in Las Vegas, about two miles north of the Mirage hotel-casino.
   • Goksel et al wrote a brief description of an inpatient service that used nurse practitioners to manage medically stable hospitalized patients.
   • Patients were clinically stable for at least 6 weeks and were receiving optimal medical therapy.
   • If Schilling's tender ankle stays stable, he should get stronger.
   • The injured tourists were reported in stable condition after receiving medical treatment at two hospitals near the crash site, police said.
   • They were enrolled provided their medical condition was stable and they were either ready or shortly to be discharged from hospital.
   • When the patient's condition is stable, he or she is transferred to the transplantation unit.
   • Once patients are medically stable, they should be transferred to a stroke rehabilitation unit if further rehabilitation is required.
   • Erythropoietin, the red cell production hormone, can reduce the need for transfusion in stable medical patients with cancer and premature newborn infants.
   • Health officials said the patient was in a stable condition after immediate and effective treatment at the hospital.
   • A 44-year-old man was seen because his generally stable and easily controlled hypertension had recently become labile.
   • By 1 August, six were still in hospital in a stable condition.
   • These patients were medically stable but had tachycardia - an elevated heart rate and known indicator of a panic reaction.
   • In contrast, stable patients in the clinic setting may be tested at intervals of only 10-13 weeks.
2. 1.2 Sane and sensible; not easily upset or disturbed.
   the officer concerned is mentally and emotionally stable

   Example sentencesExamples

   • As a result, those who practise Karate get to know themselves better, are able to make sound judgments and achieve stable emotions even under trying circumstances.
   • And I felt completely trapped because I had to be sensible and responsible and stable.
   • We want to feel we are living fully, and even though we may be very sane and stable, we have doubts about whether or not we are living up to our own expectations.
   • Despite the fact that he was somewhat less than mentally stable, he easily understood the meaning of money.
   • Let's just say that for me, now, the world is a somehow colder but far more reliable, sane, and stable place than it was before.
   • Fragile or not, June had a family and a place in their lives, and thus a coherent, stable identity despite the pains and doubts of her daily life.
   • He has been keeping his head more stable at the plate and swinging at more strikes.
   • Hope your own love life is a bit more sane, or stable, or whatever, than my own and those of some of your other readers.
   • Liberal societies are sane, tolerant, stable, pluralistic and therefore well behaved.
   • When we were first paired up he lost his temper very easily over small things, but he is lot more stable now.
   • I'm a middle class, self sufficient, independent, employed, reasonable stable young woman.
   • Taken collectively, such episodes destabilize the notion of a coherent, stable self while detaching the mind's moorings in the individual body.

   Synonyms

   well balanced, balanced, sound, mentally sound, of sound mind, sane, normal, right in the head, in possession of all one's faculties, able to think/reason clearly, lucid, clear-headed, rational, coherent, steady, reasonable, sensible, sober, down-to-earth, matter-of-fact, with both one's feet on the ground

   Latin compos mentis

   informal all there
3. 1.3 Not likely to change or fail; firmly established.
   a stable relationship

   prices have remained relatively stable

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Again the picture differs markedly from the classic corporate model in which business depends upon established, stable relationships.
   • With access to a different world, Smith still resisted making any major changes that would upset the stable life she had created for herself.
   • More than a century of chaos ensued, warlords fighting for territory, and the lives of the people in turmoil, most not living long, and failing to establish a stable environment for their children.
   • Most crucially, as Witold Rybczynski has argued, cities must continue to be livable as they balance rapid change and stable neighbourhoods.
   • After failing to secure stable employment, Priyanath had taken to doing several jobs at once - none of which, unfortunately, were very paying.
   • The only stable relationships within the group are between mother and daughter across two generations, presumably because they are not in competition.
   • There are many biological and ecological systems that eventually go extinct yet appear to be stable over any reasonable timescale.
   • If you delay child-bearing until your mid-twenties or your early thirties, you are far more likely to have a good job, educational qualifications and a stable relationship.
   • Maintaining a 90-degree angle also helps prevent pulleys from binding up, which is very important in maintaining a balanced and stable load.
   • I think that relationships would be more stable, more loving, and more committed if people were able to feel comfortable about expressing their fears or desires openly and honestly.
   • But prices have been reasonably stable in recent months even as other investments have tanked, and Tata could be right in suggesting there is a buying opportunity.
   • If I need to prove myself to you, then I will: Scott and I have been in a stable relationship for six years - and legally married for the last year and a half.
   • In doing so you will ensure that you are getting married for the right reason - the stable foundation of love and not the unstable foundation of sex.
   • Furthermore, as Blackboard is an established, stable system, we experienced few, if any, technical difficulties.
   • Even historically stable democracies have failed to integrate fully and equally the opinions and interests of the female half of the population.
   • ‘We should now be coming into a period of stable consumption and balanced market providing stronger prices,’ he said.
   • No, the weather seems reasonably stable today, just looking outside.
   • The evolution of inherited forms of behavior is as plausible as the evolution of any function of the organism when the environment can be regarded as reasonably stable.
   • Vector lengths are short in lodgepole pine and red fir-western white pine forests indicating that these forest groups are compositionally stable.
   • Society is still coping with a gigantic change in the role of women, groping towards a stable balance between work and children.

   Synonyms

   secure, solid, strong, steady, firm, sure, steadfast, level, unwavering, unvarying, unfaltering, unfluctuating, unswerving

   established, long-lasting, long-lived, deep-rooted, well founded, well grounded, abiding, durable, enduring, lasting, constant, permanent, reliable, dependable, true
4. 1.4 Not liable to undergo chemical decomposition, radioactive decay, or other physical change.
   isocyanic acid reacts with amino groups to form a stable compound

   stable nuclei

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The development of isotopic tracers during the war was a by-product of the preparation of radioactive and stable isotopes in connection with work on the atomic bomb.
   • An atom with this stable set of electrons is a very unreactive species.
   • Eventually the matter is stable and no longer radioactive.
   • Those four iron isotopes are all radioactively stable.
   • If the sodium atom loses one electron and the chlorine atoms gains one, the ions will have stable octets.
   • Once the active fluorine is chemically bound the resulting molecule is generally stable and unreactive.
   • This environment features an atmosphere that has a stable temperature and chemical composition.
   • Soy oil polymers must be heated to over 400°C before they degrade, making them more thermally stable than polyethylene or polystyrene.
   • The strongest and most stable molecular structure is the three-dimensional tetrahedron, the configuration achieved with silicates.
   • Iron has the most stable nucleus that can be generated by nuclear reactions of this type.
   • Radioactive atoms decay into stable atoms by a simple mathematical process.
   • Also, the chemical plant was processing ammonium nitrate, a stable chemical that requires a substantial infusion of energy to explode.
   • Carbon, for example, has a stable nucleus when its 6 protons are joined by 6 neutrons.
   • Davy had developed a technique by which unusually stable compounds could be decomposed into their constituent elements.
   • If the nucleus of the an atom has too few neutrons to be stable, however, positron emission occurs.
   • However, unlike regular metals, the transition elements can easily form extremely stable coordination complexes.
   • The alpha particle is emitted by certain radioactive elements as they decay to a stable element.
   • However, if we add one or more neutrons to a stable nucleus, or take neutrons away from it, the nucleus may become unstable and undergo radioactive decay.
   • So the normally stable proton can decay into a neutron, a positron, and a neutrino if continuously fed enough energy through constant, extreme acceleration.
   • Nuclear reactions, like those conducted in Lawrence's particle accelerators, can convert stable nuclei into unstable ones.

1A building set apart and adapted for keeping horses.

1. 1.1 An establishment where racehorses are kept and trained.
   racing stables

   the horse make his debut for the Mick Naughton stable

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Stringent guidelines are in place at racecourses and racing stables for disinfecting everything that comes in and out of the premises.
   • He spent huge sums on his stud farms at Eaton and Oxcroft in Cambridgeshire, as well as on his racing stables at Newmarket.
   • Boarding stables and training facilities for horses are continuously subjected to constraints due to space availability.
   • The pair have more than 80 years of working in racing stables.
   • Noblemen founded stables and became interested in breeding thoroughbred racehorses.
   • Thousands of people flocked to the Malton Racing Stables Open Day, when 18 stables around Malton and Norton opened their doors to a fascinated public.
   • In fact, all individuals and most liveries, stables and other establishments that keep horses will not be subject to the new charges.
   • By now, Miller was as well known around racecourses and training stables as on cricket fields.
   • Stevens was hired as farm manager and trainer in 1981 after running a public stable for several years.
   • The systems are expected to be in place by April and will be the same as the upgraded equipment already installed to monitor racecourse stables.
   • ‘We do stand stallions and own a racing stable, so we have some commercial aspects,’ Nichols said.
   • Magnier said to have gifted him a half-share in the record-breaking Rock of Gibraltar, trained at the Ballydoyle stables owned by Magnier.
   • Historically the pub has been used by people from the local racing stables, from the lads up to the trainers and owners.
   • He has built a house and stables on the racecourse side of the Curragh and has bought some well bred horses, including two by Sadler's Wells.
   • The finish was recreational, fishing lakes, a golf course with good views of Malton, racing stables, and the sound of music and fairground attractions.
   • From there, he became a groom, then foreman of the racing stable, then assistant farm manager/trainer in Greenville, Georgia.
   • His Sheriff Hutton stables trains a host of future racing stars amid top-class facilities.
   • I learned this was a racing stable, but what did that mean?
   • Ms Munson is embroiled in a bitter row with residents and councillors over plans to convert stables and a garage at Great Easton into a dog training centre.
   • Susan Bradburne now summons him at the first sight of trouble and he is a regular visitor to many racing stables throughout Scotland.
2. 1.2 The racehorses of a particular training establishment.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Marzato's stable will be based at a private training center in Bangholme, a southeastern suburb of Melbourne.
   • I want it to be a stable that produces winners every day, day in, day out, and has good horses on Saturdays.
   • She also oversees a small, select barn of clientele in her training stable.
   • All of this was built for wealthy bachelor Edmund Bowman who had his own private training track and stable, a pack of foxhounds and on his own cricket ground entertained the English cricketers.
   • Godolphin Racing has added another member to its powerful stable with the purchase of three-year-old stakes winner Grandera.
   • Amonte, who also trains and keeps a small stable at Suffolk Downs, has been based in New England since 1993 with an eye on retirement.
   • Every dollar I scrimped or saved barely had time to cool in my hands before it was in the cash register at the local store and I was on the way home with another addition to my racing stable.
   • A memorial service is planned for Lyon next July at Monmouth, where he trained a small stable.
   • The 40-year-old conditioner started training in 1991 with a one-horse stable.
   • Janiak purchased Takeover Target as an unraced castoff from the stable of his friend, the late trainer John Morrish.
3. 1.3 An organization or establishment training or producing a particular type of person or product.
   the player comes from the same stable as Agassi

   Example sentencesExamples

   • There are many cases where one model from a given automaker is outstanding when it comes to instrumentation and yet another product from the same stable can be less than ideal.
   • Remaining inside the BMW stable will be production of the new Millennium Mini, which will be switched to Cowley in Oxford.
   • DMG is the only big player not listed in Australia but its growing stable of stations performed well, as it remained at number one in Sydney and picked up in Melbourne.
   • The tycoon's stable of companies includes Malaysia Airlines.
   • Curious heads walked into the campus to check out what was to unfold from the stables of the School of Commerce and International Business.
   • Madame Roux is the latest addition to the City's growing sporting stable, which already includes a ladies football team and various motor-racing interests.
   • It is also the latest in a long line of critically-acclaimed dramas from the Red Production Company stable, including The Second Coming, Clocking Off and Queer as Folk.
   • Last week she outlined her plans for the centre at a party to relaunch Modern Painters magazine, which she has just added to her publishing stable.
   • The racing stable consists of Jeep, Ford, Chevy, Dodge, and the ultimate off-road brute, Humvee.
   • Diageo, on the other hand, plans to add the product to its own stable.
   • You can add to that and the stable of personalities that make up the Coodabeen Champions, born out of what is best be described as alternative programming for radio over 20 years ago.
   • Mr. Barve took over as managing director of this company and has, since, been responsible for the introduction of several mutual fund products from this stable.

1Put or keep (a horse) in a stable.

1. 1.1 Put or base (a locomotive or train) in a depot.
   one of the two locomotives was stabled at Fort William

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Trains will also be stabled at the depot overnight with the capability to service up to nine three-car trains each evening.
   • The incident happened close to Broughton Road where a train had been stabled overnight.
   • Ten years later, in July 1949, the royal train was stabled in the old station prior to returning Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh to London.
   • Trains will be stabled using sidings at both Shenfield and Gidea Park.
   • This is when the team of 15 cleaners is at work, on trains stabled in cleaning roads alongside the main building and on others kept in sidings and stations, mainly New Street.