stalk
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The stem or main axis of a plant.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
stawkIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈstɔk
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The stem or main axis of a plant.
The hunting of a wild animal by stealthy approach.
The petiole, pedicel, or peduncle of a plant.
One of the two upright pieces of a ladder.
A particular episode of trying to follow or contact someone.
zoology
The peduncle of the eyes of decapod crustaceans.
verb
transitive
To approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer.
Follow stealthily or recur constantly and spontaneously to
transitive
To (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment.ᵂᵖ
Walk stiffly
intransitive
To walk slowly and cautiously; to walk in a stealthy, noiseless manner.
intransitive
To walk behind something, such as a screen, for the purpose of approaching game; to proceed under cover.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The stem or main axis of a plant.
Used this way, stalk 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
- stem , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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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.