VocabauraVOCABAURA

stable

noun · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding ungulates.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

staybuhl

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈsteɪbəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses.

  2. metonymic

    All the racehorses of a particular stable, i.e. belonging to a given owner.

  3. A group of people who are looked after, mentored, or trained in one place or for a particular purpose or profession.

  4. A coherent or consistent set of things (typically abstract) available or presented; array.

adjective

  1. Relatively unchanging, steady, permanent; firmly fixed or established; consistent; not easily moved, altered, or destroyed.

verb

  1. Shelter in a stable

  2. transitive

    To put or keep (an animal) in a stable.

  3. intransitive

    To dwell in a stable.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses.

Used this way, stable is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • horse barn , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use stable

  • “The horse was kept in a warm and clean stable during the cold winter months.”noun

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “stable”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

All

stable equilibrium

Organization

stable government

Other combinations

stable stateremained stablestable isotopestable form

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • stable factornounCompound term

    A coagulation factor formed in the kidney under the influence of vitamin K.

  • stable gearnounCompound term

    Gear for a horse.

  • stable companionnounCompound term

    A horse stabled with another or one of several horses owned by the same person.

  • augean stablesnounCompound term

    The extremely dirty stables that were finally cleaned by Hercules who diverted two rivers through them.

  • livery stablenounCompound term

    Stable where horses and vehicles are kept for hire.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: building or wing

horse barnRare

adjective

Sense: relatively unchanging or steady or permanent

steadyunchanging

Antonyms

Sense: relatively unchanging or steady or permanent

unstable

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “stable” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.