| 释义 |
stalk
I. \ˈstȯk\ verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: Middle English stalken, from Old English bestealcian to walk stealthily; akin to Old English stealc steep, lofty, Old Swedish stjœlke stalk, stem, Old Norse stjölr hinder part, tail — more at steal
intransitive verb
1. obsolete : to walk cautiously or furtively : steal, slip
2. : to pursue quarry or prey stealthily or under cover (as behind a stalking horse) : still-hunt
< deer are hunted chiefly by stalking — Encyc. Americana >
— compare drive
3.
a. : to walk with a stiff ungainly stride
< long-legged water birds stalk along the shore >
b. : to walk with long measured steps : stride loftily
< turned on his heel, and stalked stiffly out — Kenneth Roberts >
c. : to move in a silent deliberate manner — used of ghosts and half-personified evils
< a specter that stalked along the castle walls at midnight >
< the terror that stalks through the city >
transitive verb
1.
a. : to pursue (as game) stealthily and often under cover for the purpose of killing
< stalk deer >
< stalk an enemy patrol >
< watch a tiger stalk its prey >
b. : to pursue or follow in a stealthy, furtive, or persistent manner
< the man was stalking him as remorselessly as if he were a criminal — Time >
2. : to move through, recur to, or follow as a specter or evil : dog, haunt
< a nightmare that stalks his sleep >
< the starvation that stalked the winter-devastated land — New York Times Book Review >
3. : to go through (an area) in search of prey or other quarry
< stalk the woods for deer >
II. noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English stalke, from stalken to stalk
1. : the act or process of stalking prey or other quarry
2. : a stalking gait
III. noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English stalke; akin to Old Swedish stjœlke stalk — more at stalk, v.
1.
a. : the main stem of an herbaceous plant often with its dependent parts (as leaves, twigs, fruit)
< a stalk of wheat >
— often used in combination
< cornstalk >
< beanstalk >
b. : a part of a plant by which an organ (as a leaf, fruit) is attached and supported: as
(1) : the petiole of a leaf
(2) : the peduncle or pedicel of a flower or fruit
(3) : the stipe of an ovary
(4) : the seta of a moss
c. : an organ-bearing stalk with the parts it bears
< bought a whole stalk of bananas >
2. : a slender upright object or supporting or connecting part: as
a. : a long narrow peduncle supporting some part of an animal body
< the stalk of the pituitary >
or the entire body
< the stalk of hydrocaulus that attaches a hydroid to the substrate >
< the stalk of some crinoids is many times as long as the body it attaches >
b. : the stack of a chimney
c. : an ornament in the Corinthian capital which resembles the stalk of a plant and from which the volutes and helices spring
3. : an iron bar with projections that is inserted in a core to strengthen it : a core arbor |