📖 S — The English dictionary · page 88

stagger — Everyday, meaning 1: To walk or move unsteadily, almost falling, because you are hurt, tired, dizzy or carrying something heavy.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To shock or amaze someone very much.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To arrange things so they do not all happen at the same time, like staggered lunch breaks or a staggered start in a race.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (noun) An unsteady walk.↗ Example: He staggered under the weight of the heavy box.↗ · The tired runner staggered over the finish line.↗ · I was staggered by how much the trip cost.↗ · Lunch breaks are staggered so the hall isn't too crowded.↗ · In the 200 m race, the start is staggered.↗ · She staggered out of the spinning teacups ride laughing.↗ · With a willow cane he propped himself up as he staggered along beneath his burden.↗ · They grope in the dark without light, and He maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.↗ (Writings JOB.12.25, JPS 1917)↗ · They reeled to and fro, and staggered like a drunken man, and all their wisdom was swallowed up — (Writings PSA.107.27, JPS 1917)↗ · Blind yourselves, and be blind! ye that are drunken, but not with wine, that stagger, but not with strong drink.↗ (Prophets ISA.29.9, JPS 1917)↗

staggering — Everyday, meaning 1: Very surprising and shocking, because it is so large or amazing.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (verb) Walking unsteadily, almost falling.↗ Example: The cost of the new stadium is staggering.↗ · A staggering million people watched the parade.↗ · The view from the mountain top was staggering.↗ · He came staggering out of the smoke.↗ · The Sun is a staggering 150 million kilometres from Earth.↗ · Her success was staggering for someone so young.↗ · He wetted his lips to be ready, but Hook came staggering out, without his lantern.↗ · Thou hast made Thy people to see hard things; Thou hast made us to drink the wine of staggering.↗ (Writings PSA.60.5, JPS 1917)↗ · Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of staggering unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it fall to be in the siege against Jerusalem.↗ (Prophets ZEC.12.2, JPS 1917)↗ · Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, that hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; thou hast drunken the beaker, even the cup of staggering, and drained it.↗ (Prophets ISA.51.17, JPS 1917)↗

stagnant — Everyday, meaning 1: Stagnant water is still and does not flow, so it becomes dirty, smelly and full of germs.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: In a general sense, something stagnant is dull and not changing or growing.↗ Example: The pond was stagnant and smelled bad.↗ · Do not drink stagnant water.↗ · Mosquitoes breed in stagnant puddles.↗ · After a year in the same job, his life felt stagnant.↗

stain — Everyday, meaning 1: A dirty mark or spot that is hard to remove.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (verb) To make a mark that is hard to remove.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (noun or verb) A dye used to colour wood or to make cells easy to see under a microscope.↗ Example: I've got a grass stain on my trousers.↗ · Blackberries stain your fingers purple.↗ · Wash the stain out before it dries.↗ · We used a stain to see the cells under the microscope.↗ · The church has beautiful stained-glass windows.↗ · Tea can stain your teeth.↗ · The carpet was stained with red juice.↗ · Dad stained the wooden fence dark brown.↗ · She flew in excitedly, her face flushed and her dress stained with mud.↗

stainless — Everyday, meaning 1: Stainless means without stains or marks.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Stainless steel is a kind of steel mixed with chromium that does not rust or stain easily.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (formal, literary) Stainless can mean morally perfect, with no bad deeds.↗ Example: Our kitchen sink is made of stainless steel.↗ · Stainless steel spoons stay shiny for years.↗ · Doctors use stainless steel tools because they are easy to keep clean.↗ · Stainless steel has chromium in it to stop rust.↗ · The water bottle is stainless steel, so it keeps my drink cold.↗ · The knight had a stainless reputation.↗ · The tablecloth was stainless after Mum washed it.↗

stair — Everyday, meaning 1: A stair is one step in a set of steps that go up or down inside a building.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Stairs (or a staircase) are the whole set of steps from one floor to another.↗ Example: There are 15 stairs to the first floor.↗ · She climbs 20 stairs each morning.↗ · The house has 3 floors with 14 stairs between each.↗ · He went up 8 stairs and then down 3.↗ · Hold the handrail when you go down the stairs.↗ · Don't leave toys on the stairs.↗ · My bedroom is upstairs.↗ · The cat sleeps at the bottom of the stairs.↗ · They were now on the stairs.↗ · Then they hastened, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the horn, saying: 'Jehu is king.'↗ (Prophets 2KI.9.13, JPS 1917)↗ · The door for the lowest row of chambers was in the right side of the house and they went up by winding stairs into the middle row, and out of the middle into the third.↗ (Prophets 1KI.6.8, JPS 1917)↗ · and by the fountain gate, and straight before them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the going up of the wall, above the house of David, even unto the water gate eastward.↗ (Writings NEH.12.37, JPS 1917)↗

staircase — Everyday, meaning 1: A staircase is a set of steps going up from one floor to another, often with a rail to hold.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A spiral staircase goes round and round.↗ Example: The staircase has 15 steps.↗ · Each floor has a staircase of 18 steps.↗ · How many steps are there to the 4th floor?↗ · She climbs the staircase 3 times a day.↗ · Hold the rail when you go down the staircase.↗ · The lighthouse has a long spiral staircase.↗ · The castle had a hidden staircase behind the wall.↗ · All the princesses disappeared down a secret staircase, and Michael hastily followed them.↗

stairway — Everyday, meaning 1: A set of stairs inside or outside a building, often with the walls or space around it.↗ Example: Use the stairway, not the lift, if there's a fire.↗ · A narrow stairway led up to the attic.↗ · The old castle had a spiral stairway.↗ · Don't play on the stairway — someone might trip.↗ · The stairway was lit with small lamps.↗ · The emergency stairway is at the end of the corridor.↗ · It was a small room on the ground floor, with a tiny window under the stairway.↗

stake — Everyday, meaning 1: A stake is a strong pointed stick or post pushed into the ground, for example to hold up a plant, a tent or a fence.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A stake is money or something valuable that you risk in a bet or game.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: A stake in something is a share or interest in it, so you gain or lose if it does well or badly.↗ e.g. "She has a stake in the company."↗ Everyday, meaning 4: "At stake" means at risk, able to be won or lost.↗ e.g. "The championship is at stake."↗ Everyday, meaning 5: (verb) To stake means to fix with stakes, to bet or risk something, or to claim.↗ e.g. "stake a claim".↗ Everyday, meaning 6: (history) In the past some people were cruelly killed by burning while tied to a stake.↗ Example: We tied the tomato plant to a wooden stake.↗ · Hammer the tent stakes into the ground.↗ · His job was at stake if the project failed.↗ · It was a high-stakes final, so everyone was nervous.↗ · Miners staked their claims during the gold rush.↗ · Workers who own shares have a stake in the company.↗ · The police staked out the house all night.↗ · Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431.↗ · Out of them shall come forth the corner-stone, out of them the stake, out of them the battle bow, out of them every master together.↗ (Prophets ZEC.10.4, JPS 1917)↗

stakeholder — Everyday, meaning 1: (formal) A stakeholder is a person or group who is affected by something, such as a plan or a business, and so cares how it turns out.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (business, money) Someone who owns a share in a company or has money in it.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (old use) A person who holds the money that people have bet, until the winner is known.↗ Example: Parents, pupils and teachers are all stakeholders in the school.↗ · The council talked to local stakeholders before building the park.↗ · A shop's stakeholders include its workers, customers and owners.↗ · The report was sent to every stakeholder.↗ · Farmers are big stakeholders in decisions about water.↗ · Our project plan lists the stakeholders and what each one wants.↗ · The company must listen to its stakeholders, not only its bosses.↗

stakes — Everyday, meaning 1: Pointed wooden or metal posts pushed into the ground, for example to hold up plants or a tent.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Money or something valuable risked in a bet or game; «the stakes are high» means a lot can be won or lost.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: A share in a business: «a stake in the company».↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (verb) Third-person form of «stake»: risks something, or marks land with posts.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: (history) A post at which people were once killed by burning, as in «burned at the stake».↗ Example: Push the stakes into the ground to hold the tent.↗ · Tie the beans to the stakes so they grow straight.↗ · The stakes are high: the winner goes to the final.↗ · Our team's place in the league is at stake.↗ · He staked all his sweets on winning the game.↗ · Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431.↗ · She owns a stake in her family's bakery.↗ · “O son of a king,” said she, “I demand a game with you for stakes.”↗ · Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations, spare not; lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.↗ (Prophets ISA.54.2, JPS 1917)↗

stalactite — Everyday, meaning 1: A stalactite is a long, pointed stone shape that hangs down from the roof of a cave, made very slowly by dripping water that leaves tiny bits of minerals behind.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Anything hanging down in that shape, like an icicle, can be called a stalactite.↗ Example: A huge stalactite hung from the cave roof.↗ · Stalactites grow only a tiny bit every year.↗ · Water dripped from the tip of the stalactite.↗ · Don't touch the stalactites — they are very old.↗ · When a stalactite meets a stalagmite, it makes a pillar.↗ · Icicles look like stalactites made of ice.↗ · Our class drew stalactites in the cave picture.↗

stalagmite — Everyday, meaning 1: A stalagmite is a pointed column of rock that grows upwards from the floor of a cave, made by drips of water full of dissolved minerals.↗ Example: A huge stalagmite rose from the cave floor.↗ · Stalagmites grow upwards as water drips onto them.↗ · It took thousands of years for the stalagmite to form.↗ · Please don't touch the stalagmites — oils from your hands harm them.↗ · The stalactite and the stalagmite met to make a column.↗ · We drew stalagmites in our cave diagram.↗

stale — Everyday, meaning 1: Stale food, especially bread or cake, is old, dry and not fresh any more.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Stale air is old and stuffy, not fresh, like in a room with closed windows.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Stale news or jokes are old and boring because people have heard them too many times.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: In hunting, a stale trail is an old scent that has grown weak and is hard to follow.↗ Example: The bread went stale because we left the bag open.↗ · Let's open a window; the air in here is stale.↗ · We fed the stale crusts to the ducks.↗ · Seal the cereal box, or it will go stale.↗ · That joke is stale; everyone knows it.↗ · Stale biscuits are soft instead of crunchy.↗ · The room smelled stale after the holiday.↗ · He shall follow the new trail, and the stale trail, and the mixed trail, with a clear eye!↗

stalk — Everyday, meaning 1: A stalk is the thin main stem of a plant, or the small stem that holds a leaf, flower or fruit.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To stalk an animal is to follow it slowly and quietly to catch it, as a cat or a lion does.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To stalk a person is to follow or watch them again and again in a frightening way; this is wrong and against the law.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: To stalk off or stalk out is to walk away in a stiff, angry, proud way.↗ Example: Pull the apple off the tree by its stalk.↗ · The sunflower has a tall green stalk.↗ · Mum cut the celery into stalks for our snack.↗ · The cat stalked the bird across the lawn.↗ · Lions stalk zebras in the long grass.↗ · He stalked out of the room and slammed the door.↗ · Stalking someone online is a crime.↗ · The water travels up the stalk to the flower.↗ · He rose and stalked to the tent-door.↗ · And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up upon one stalk, full and good.↗ (Torah GEN.41.22, JPS 1917)↗ · And he slept and dreamed a second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.↗ (Torah GEN.41.5, JPS 1917)↗ · But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had spread out upon the roof.↗ (Prophets JOS.2.6, JPS 1917)↗ · For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind; it hath no stalk, the bud that shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up.↗ (Prophets HOS.8.7, JPS 1917)↗