stalk

«stalk» in Mova's school dictionary: the thin main stem of a plant, or the small stem that… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a stalk, stalks); verb (stalk, stalks, stalked, stalking)

meaning for a pupil

1) A stalk is the thin main stem of a plant, or the small stem that holds a leaf, flower or fruit. tree →

2) To stalk an animal is to follow it slowly and quietly to catch it, as a cat or a lion does. tree →

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. tree →

4) To stalk off or stalk out is to walk away in a stiff, angry, proud way. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science «stalk» is a plant part: the stalk carries water up from the roots to the leaves and holds the plant upright. In nature lessons predators «stalk their prey». In safety lessons «stalking» is a serious harm: if someone keeps following you or messaging you when you don't want it, tell a trusted adult. In stories «she stalked out of the room» shows anger. Phrases: «celery stalk», «stalk of corn», «stalk off».

examples

• Pull the apple off the tree by its stalk. tree →
• The sunflower has a tall green stalk. tree →
• Mum cut the celery into stalks for our snack. tree →
• The cat stalked the bird across the lawn. tree →
• Lions stalk zebras in the long grass. tree →
• He stalked out of the room and slammed the door. tree →
• Stalking someone online is a crime. tree →
• The water travels up the stalk to the flower. tree →
• He rose and stalked to the tent-door. tree →

note

Past: stalked (the k is said, the l is silent: «stawk»). Do not confuse with «stock» or «stork» (a bird). A stalk (plant) and to stalk (follow) sound the same. «Stem» and «stalk» mean nearly the same for plants.

In the corpora

• Jumping spiders have two huge front eyes that see sharply and in colour, and they stalk and pounce instead of using webs.
• Rhubarb stalks are safe to eat cooked, but rhubarb leaves are poisonous because they contain a lot of oxalic acid.
• Fairyflies have feathery wings of a stalk and long hairs and row through the air almost as if it were syrup.
• She describes him: round and flat, eyes on stalks, walking sideways, with strong armour on his back.
• When Chloe reaches for her, Duchess flattens her ears and stalks off like a duchess who's been insulted.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «stalk» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.