English Dictionary — Definitions & Meanings

stagger

verb

To walk unsteadily, as if about to fall.

staggered

adj

Shocked or taken aback.

staggering

adj

So great or surprising as to be hard to believe.

staggeringly

adv

To an astonishing extent.

staging

noun

The act of putting on a performance, including how it's arranged and directed.

stagnant

adj

Not flowing or moving, and therefore often stale or unhealthy — usually said of water.

stagnate

verb

To stop moving, working, or making progress.

stagnation

noun

The state of not moving or changing; an example of this happening.

stagy

adj

Showy in a false or exaggerated way.

Stahl

name

A surname of German origin meaning "steel."

staid

adj

Calm, serious, and unlikely to do anything sudden or exciting.

stain

noun

A discoloured mark left by a substance that soaks into a surface.

stained

adj

Marked or discoloured by a stain.

Staines

name

A town in Surrey, England, and an occasional surname.

stainless

adj

Describing a metal alloy that resists rust and corrosion.

Stains

name

A surname, an occasional variant of Staines.

stair

noun

A single step in a flight of steps.

staircase

noun

A full flight of stairs together with its structure and railing.

stairs

noun

A connected series of steps used to move between floors.

stairway

noun

A set of stairs, especially considered as a passage or route.

stairwell

noun

The vertical shaft in a building that contains a staircase.

stake

noun

A pointed piece of wood or metal driven into the ground as a marker or support.

stakebody

noun

A truck or wagon platform fitted with removable upright posts, used for carrying loads such as bales, sacks or barrels.

staked

adj

Marked out with stakes driven into the ground.

stakeholder

noun

A person, group or organisation with an interest in a project, business or decision, and who is affected by how it turns out.

stakeout

noun

A period of covert surveillance of a place or person, usually by police.

stakes

noun

Money or property risked on the outcome of a bet or contest.

staking

noun

The act of driving a stake or stakes into the ground to mark or support something.

stalactite

noun

A tapering, icicle-shaped mineral deposit that forms on a cave ceiling as mineral-rich water drips.

stalag

noun

A German prisoner-of-war camp, especially one from World War II.

stale

adj

No longer fresh; dried out or gone off, especially food or drink.

stalemate

noun

In chess, a position where the player to move has no legal move and is not in check, ending the game as a draw.

staleness

noun

The condition of no longer being fresh.

Stalin

noun

Used as an insult for someone seen as an extremely controlling or ruthless dictator-type figure, comparable to calling someone "a Hitler."

stalinabad

name

The former name, used from 1929 to 1961, of Dushanbe, a city in Tajikistan under the Soviet Union.

Stalingrad

name

The former name of the Russian city of Volgograd, site of a pivotal Second World War battle.

stalinism

noun

The set of Communist ideas put forward by the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

stalk

noun

The stem of a plant, or a similar stem-like part.

stalked

adj

Having a stalk or stem.

stalker

noun

A person who repeatedly and obsessively follows or watches someone, often unlawfully.

stalking

noun

The crime of repeatedly following or harassing someone in a way that causes fear.

stall

noun

A small stand or booth where goods are sold, as in a market.

stalling

noun

The act of delaying or failing to make progress.

stallion

noun

An adult male horse, especially one kept uncastrated for breeding.

Stallone

name

An Italian surname, notably borne by the American actor Sylvester Stallone.

Stalls

name

A surname, likely derived from residence near a market stall.

stalwart

adj

Strongly and solidly built; sturdy.

stalworth

name

A surname derived from the nickname.

stamboul

name

A synonym for Istanbul, a city in Turkey.

stamen

noun

(botany) The male part of a flower that makes pollen, usually made up of a thin stalk topped by an anther.

Stamford

name

A town in Lincolnshire, England, and the name of a city in Connecticut, US.

stamina

noun

The physical or mental energy needed to keep doing something demanding over a long time.

stammer

verb

To speak with involuntary repetitions or pauses, unable to get words out smoothly.

stammering

noun

The act or habit of speaking with a stammer.

stamp

noun

A small piece of paper affixed to mail to show that postage has been paid.

stampede

noun

A sudden, wild rush of frightened animals running together.

stamper

noun

A person or tool that stamps or presses down a mark.

stamping

noun

The sound or act of stamping the feet.

stan

noun

An extremely obsessive fan of a celebrity, group, or franchise, especially one whose devotion crosses into unhealthy territory.

stance

noun

The way someone stands, including their posture and the position of their feet.

stanch

adj

An archaic spelling of staunch.

stanchion

noun

An upright post used to hold something up.

stanchless

adj

Unable to be stopped, especially of bleeding.

stand

verb

To be upright on one's feet, or to rise into that position.

stand down

verb

To resign from a position, or to withdraw from a contest or candidacy, leaving the way clear for someone else.

standard

adj

Usual, regular, or typical; falling within an accepted, expected range.

standardisation

noun

A non-Oxford British English standard spelling of standardization.

standardise

verb

To set an official rule for how something must be done throughout an organisation.

standardised

adj

Made to follow an official or agreed standard.

standardization

noun

The process of following an agreed standard.

standardize

verb

An American and Oxford British standard spelling of standardise.

standardized

adj

Made to conform to a single official or agreed set of rules or measurements.

standards

noun

Rules of behaviour based on a person's sense of right, wrong and honour.

standby

noun

A state of being ready to act at short notice.

standee

noun

A large free-standing cardboard display, often a life-size cutout of a person or character, used to advertise a film or product in a cinema or shop.

standing

adj

Remaining in effect on an ongoing basis.

standish

noun

A stand or holder for pens, ink, and other writing tools, once common on desks before modern pens existed.

standoff

noun

A tense confrontation in which neither side backs down or advances.

standoffish

adj

Unfriendly and distant in manner, keeping other people at arm's length.

standout

adj

Exceptionally good; clearly better than the rest.

standpoint

noun

A particular point of view or way of judging a situation.

standstill

noun

A complete stop; a state where nothing is moving or progressing.

Stanfield

name

An English surname derived from a place name meaning "stony field."

Stanford

name

An English surname and place name, and (capitalized) the name of a prestigious private university in California.

stang

noun

A staff with a fork at one end, used in certain rituals.

Stanhope

noun

A light, open, two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with a high seat and no roof over the back.

Stanislav

name

A masculine given name of Slavic origin, meaning "glorious stand" or "one who achieves glory."

stank

verb

Past tense of stink; smelled bad.

stanky

adj

(informal) Smelly; having a bad odour.

Stanley

name

A male given name, popular in the early 20th century, and a common English surname originally referring to a "stony meadow."

stanmarch

noun

A herb in the umbellifer family, also called alexanders or horse parsley, with the scientific name Smyrnium olusatrum.

stansfield

name

A habitational surname of Old English origin.

Stanton

name

An English surname and the name of several towns, originally meaning "stone enclosure" or "stone settlement."

stanza

noun

A group of lines in a poem, set apart from the next group by a blank line and often sharing a fixed pattern of length, rhythm and rhyme.

stapes

noun

A tiny stirrup-shaped bone in a mammal's middle ear that passes vibrations on to the inner ear.

staph

noun

A common type of bacteria (Staphylococcus) that lives on skin and can cause infections ranging from minor boils to serious illness.

staphylococcus

noun

A round bacterium of the genus Staphylococcus that can cause skin infections and blood poisoning.

staple

noun

A basic food or item that is used regularly and is essential to daily life.

stapled

adj

Fastened together using a staple or staples.

stapler

noun

A small hand-operated device that fastens sheets of paper together by driving a metal staple through them.

Staples

name

An English surname, and the name of a well-known office supply retail chain.

Stapleton

name

An English surname and place name meaning "settlement by a post or pillar."

star

noun

A huge, glowing ball of gas in space, held together by gravity, that produces light and heat through nuclear fusion.

Starbase

noun

A fictional space station or military outpost used as a base for spacecraft, common in science fiction.

starboard

noun

The right-hand side of a ship or aircraft when facing forward.

Starbuck

name

An English surname, notably the first mate in "Moby-Dick" and the inspiration for the Starbucks coffee brand.

Starbucks

name

A large international chain of coffee shops.

starburst

noun

A sudden burst or explosion, or a star-shaped pattern of light suggesting one.

starch

noun

A carbohydrate found in foods like potatoes, rice, and grains, used by the body for energy.

starched

adj

Treated with starch and made stiff, especially describing clothing.

stardate

noun

A fictional unit of date and time used in Star Trek instead of ordinary calendar dates.

stardom

noun

The state of being a famous performer or celebrity.

stardust

noun

Tiny particles of matter found in space, formed from material ejected by stars.

stare

verb

To look at something or someone for a long time without looking away.

Starfighter

noun

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, a real Cold War-era jet fighter aircraft designed for very high speed and altitude.

starfish

noun

A sea creature, not actually a fish, with a body typically shaped like a five-pointed star.

starfleet

noun

A fleet of spacecraft, especially as depicted in science fiction; most famously the fictional organization in Star Trek.

stargate

noun

An imagined device or portal that allows near-instant travel between two distant points in space, often through a wormhole.

stargaze

verb

To watch the stars in the night sky.

stargazer

noun

A person who watches or studies the stars, whether as a hobby or professionally.

stargazing

noun

The activity of watching the stars, or the study of astronomy.

staring

adj

Looking fixedly with wide-open eyes.

stark

adj

Severe, bare, or bleak in appearance.

starken

verb

To make something stiff or unyielding, or to make a person stubborn.

starkers

adj

(informal) Completely naked.

Starkey

name

An English surname derived from "stark," meaning strong or robust.

Starks

name

An English surname, a variant of Stark, and the name of a noble house in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels.

Starla

name

A feminine given name derived from "star."

starlet

noun

A young actress, especially one who is promising but not yet a major star.

starlight

noun

Light that comes from stars.

starling

noun

A common small to medium-sized bird known for its dark, glossy, iridescent feathers and noisy flocking behaviour.

starr

noun

Historically, a written receipt or release given to acknowledge that a debt had been paid, used in medieval English Jewish communities.

starred

adj

Marked with a star or stars, or having appeared as a leading performer.

starring

adj

Playing the leading role in a film, show, or performance.

starry

adj

Filled with visible stars, as a clear night sky.

stars

noun

Plural of star; the glowing points of light seen in the night sky, or, informally, outer space and everything beyond Earth.

starship

noun

A spacecraft imagined or built to travel between star systems, far beyond the reach of ordinary rockets.

start

verb

To begin doing something or set something in motion.

starter

noun

A person who begins something, or who sets something going.

starting

noun

The act or process of beginning something.

startle

verb

To give someone a sudden shock or fright, usually without real danger.

startled

adj

Suddenly surprised and a little frightened.

startling

adj

Surprising enough to shock or alarm; unexpected and striking.

startlingly

adv

In a way that is surprising or shocking.

startup

noun

A newly founded company, especially one built around a fresh idea and aiming for fast growth.

starvation

noun

The state of suffering or dying from a severe lack of food.

starve

verb

To suffer or die from lack of food.

starved

adj

Severely weakened from lack of food; emaciated.

starving

adj

Suffering severely from lack of food, or, informally, extremely hungry.

Stas

name

A masculine given name, a short form of Stanislav common in Slavic countries.