STALK

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does stalk mean? 

• STALK (noun)
  The noun STALK has 5 senses:

1. material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds

2. a slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ

3. a hunt for game carried on by following it stealthily or waiting in ambush

4. the act of following prey stealthily

5. a stiff or threatening gait

  Familiarity information: STALK used as a noun is common.

• STALK (verb)
  The verb STALK has 3 senses:

1. walk stiffly

2. follow stealthily or recur constantly and spontaneously to

3. go through (an area) in search of prey

  Familiarity information: STALK used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STALK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

chaff; husk; shuck; stalk; straw; stubble

Hypernyms ("stalk" is a kind of...):

plant material; plant substance (material derived from plants)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stalk"):

bran (broken husks of the seeds of cereal grains that are separated from the flour by sifting)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

stalk; stem

Hypernyms ("stalk" is a kind of...):

plant organ (a functional and structural unit of a plant or fungus)

Meronyms (parts of "stalk"):

internode (a segment of a stem between two nodes)

leaf node; node ((botany) the small swelling that is the part of a plant stem from which one or more leaves emerge)

receptacle (enlarged tip of a stem that bears the floral parts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stalk"):

gynophore (the stalk of a pistil that raises it above the receptacle)

bole; tree trunk; trunk (the main stem of a tree; usually covered with bark; the bole is usually the part that is commercially useful for lumber)

halm; haulm (stems of beans and peas and potatoes and grasses collectively as used for thatching and bedding)

culm (stem of plants of the Gramineae)

branch (a division of a stem, or secondary stem arising from the main stem of a plant)

corm (solid swollen underground bulb-shaped stem or stem base and serving as a reproductive structure)

bulb (a modified bud consisting of a thickened globular underground stem serving as a reproductive structure)

leafstalk; petiole (the slender stem that supports the blade of a leaf)

flower stalk; scape (erect leafless flower stalk growing directly from the ground as in a tulip)

stipe (supporting stalk or stem-like structure especially of a pistil or fern frond or supporting a mushroom cap)

caudex; stock (persistent thickened stem of a herbaceous perennial plant)

cladode; cladophyll; phylloclad; phylloclade (a flattened stem resembling and functioning as a leaf)

beanstalk (stem of a bean plant)

caudex (woody stem of palms and tree ferns)

axis (the main stem or central part about which plant organs or plant parts such as branches are arranged)

rhizome; rootstalk; rootstock (a horizontal plant stem with shoots above and roots below serving as a reproductive structure)

tuber (a fleshy underground stem or root serving for reproductive and food storage)

cutting; slip (a part (sometimes a root or leaf or bud) removed from a plant to propagate a new plant through rooting or grafting)

sporangiophore (stalk bearing one or more sporangia)

cane (a strong slender often flexible stem as of bamboos, reeds, rattans, or sugar cane)

petiolule (the stalk of a leaflet)

funicle; funiculus (the stalk of a plant ovule or seed)

filament (the stalk of a stamen)

corn stalk; cornstalk (the stalk of a corn plant)

carpophore (a slender stalk that furnishes an axis for a carpel)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A hunt for game carried on by following it stealthily or waiting in ambush

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

stalk; stalking; still hunt

Hypernyms ("stalk" is a kind of...):

hunt; hunting (the work of finding and killing or capturing animals for food or pelts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stalk"):

deerstalking (stalking deer)

Derivation:

stalk (go through (an area) in search of prey)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The act of following prey stealthily

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

stalk; stalking

Hypernyms ("stalk" is a kind of...):

chase; following; pursual; pursuit (the act of pursuing in an effort to overtake or capture)

Derivation:

stalk (follow stealthily or recur constantly and spontaneously to)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A stiff or threatening gait

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

angry walk; stalk

Hypernyms ("stalk" is a kind of...):

gait (a person's manner of walking)

Derivation:

stalk (walk stiffly)

• STALK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they stalk    ... he / she / it stalks   
Past simple: stalked   
Past participle: stalked   
-ing form: stalking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Walk stiffly

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "stalk" is one way to...):

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The children stalk to the playground

Derivation:

stalk (a stiff or threatening gait)

stalker (someone who walks with long stiff strides)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Follow stealthily or recur constantly and spontaneously to

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

haunt; stalk

Context example:

the ghost of her mother haunted her

Hypernyms (to "stalk" is one way to...):

follow; pursue (follow in or as if in pursuit)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

stalk (the act of following prey stealthily)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Go through (an area) in search of prey

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

stalk the woods for deer

Hypernyms (to "stalk" is one way to...):

follow; pursue (follow in or as if in pursuit)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The men stalk the area for animals

Derivation:

stalk (a hunt for game carried on by following it stealthily or waiting in ambush)

stalker (someone who prowls or sneaks about; usually with unlawful intentions)

stalker (someone who stalks game)

stalking (a hunt for game carried on by following it stealthily or waiting in ambush)

 Context examples 

With that she stalked out, and made the door bang after her.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“Nothing in all this,” said Baynes, stalking, candle in hand, from room to room.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A meningioma that affects the pituitary stalk.

(Pituitary Stalk Meningioma, NCI Thesaurus)

A lesion connected to the underlying tissue by a small stalk.

(Pedunculated Lesion, NCI Thesaurus)

She remained as close to the horror as on the first morning when the unexpected stalked into the cabin and took possession.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

It is characterized by the presence of fibrovascular stalks lined by serous epithelial cells.

(Fallopian Tube Papilloma, NCI Thesaurus)

If they develop, they may be located in the wall or within the lumen as a growth attached to the wall by a stalk.

(Fallopian Tube Neoplasm, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

It is characterized by the presence of papillary structures with fibrovascular stalks.

(Intraductal Papillary Breast Carcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Tumor are less than 2 times the height of the mucosa and does not have a stalk.

(Flat Adenoma of the Mouse Intestinal Tract, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

It is connected to the hypothalamus by a short stalk.

(Murine Pituitary Gland, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)