Stale Definition

stāl

staled, staler, stales, stalest, staling

adjective

staler, stalest

Having lost freshness, effervescence, or palatability.

Stale bread; stale air.

American Heritage

Having lost freshness; made musty, dry, bad, etc. by having been kept too long.

Webster's New World

Having lost originality or newness; lacking in interest through familiarity or overuse; hackneyed; trite.

A stale joke, stale gossip.

Webster's New World

Out of condition, ineffective, enervated, bored, etc. from either too much or too little activity.

Webster's New World

Legally unenforceable because of a claimant's delay in seeking enforcement.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

verb

staled, stales, staling

To make or become stale.

American Heritage

To urinate. Used especially of horses and camels.

American Heritage

To urinate.

Webster's New World

To make or become stale.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Synonyms:
obsolesce

noun

stales

Urine, as of horses or cattle.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Stale

Noun

Singular:

stale

Plural:

stales

Adjective

Base Form:

stale

Comparative:

staler

Superlative:

stalest

Origin of Stale

Middle English settled, clear (used of beer or wine) probably from Old French estale slack, settled, clear from estaler to come to a standstill, halt from estal standing place, stand of Germanic origin stel- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Middle English stalen possibly of Low German origin Middle Low German stallen

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition