Stall Meaning
/stɔːl/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA compartment for a single animal in a stable or cattle shed.
nounA stable; a place for cattle.
Sentence Examples
I bought this old clock at an antique stall in the market.
You may not set up a roadside stall without prior notice.
He works on a market stall in the Square.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She set up a small ____ at the fair to sell crafts.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The small market ____ was filled with fresh vegetables and fruits that had been picked that very morning.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English stall, stalle, from Old English steall (“standing place, position”), from Proto-Germanic *stallaz, from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to place, put, post, stand”). Cognate with French étal, Italian stallo, German Stall, Swedish stall.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"His Fellow ſought what Lodging he could find:
At laſt he found a Stall where oxen ſtood,
And that he rather choſe than lie abroad."
— 1700, [John] Dryden, “The Cock and the Fox: Or, The Tale of the Nun’s Priest, from Chaucer”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 231:
"Now he goes on, and ſings of fairs and ſhows,
For ſtill new fairs before his eyes aroſe.
How pedlars' ſtalls with glitt'ring toys are laid,
The various fairings of the country maid."
— 1714, J[ohn] Gay, “Saturday; or, The Flights”, in The Shepherd’s Week. In Six Pastorals, London: […] R. Burleigh […], →OCLC, page 57, lines 71–74:
"He looked in vain into the stalls for the butcher who had sold fresh meat twice a week, on market days [...]"
— 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:
"Despite the swift backpedalling of the university, the original notice given to stall operators is suggestive of the potential existence of 'a growing English-speaking elite' that is 'happy to maintain the importance of the English language'."
— 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 3:
"Rabbit eases from the king-size bed, goes into their bathroom with its rose-colored one-piece Fiberglas tub and shower stall, and urinates into the toilet of a matching rose porcelain."
— 1990, John Updike, Rabbit at Rest:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She set up a small ____ at the fair to sell crafts.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The small market ____ was filled with fresh vegetables and fruits that had been picked that very morning.