Squitch grass Squitch" grass` (Botany) Quitch grass.

Squitee Squi·tee" noun [ From the N. American Indian name.] (Zoology) The squeteague; -- called also squit .

Stœchiology Stœch`i·ol"o·gy noun , Stœch`i*om"e*try noun , etc. See Stoichiology , Stoichiometry , etc.

Stab Stab transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Stabbed ; present participle & verbal noun Stabbing .] [ Confer OD. staven to fix, fasten, from stave , staff , a staff, rod; akin to German stab a staff, stick, English staff ; also Gael. stob to stab, as noun , a stake, a stub. Confer Staff .] 1. To pierce with a pointed weapon; to wound or kill by the thrust of a pointed instrument; as, to stab a man with a dagger; also, to thrust; as, to stab a dagger into a person.

2. Fig.: To injure secretly or by malicious falsehood or slander; as, to stab a person's reputation.

Stab Stab intransitive verb 1. To give a wound with a pointed weapon; to pierce; to thrust with a pointed weapon.

None shall dare
With shortened sword to stab in closer war.

Dryden.

2. To wound or pain, as if with a pointed weapon.

She speaks poniards, and every word stabs .

Shak.

To stab at , to offer or threaten to stab; to thrust a pointed weapon at.

Stab Stab noun 1. The thrust of a pointed weapon.

2. A wound with a sharp-pointed weapon; as, to fall by the stab an assassin. Shak.

3. Fig.: An injury inflicted covertly or suddenly; as, a stab given to character.

Stab culture Stab culture (Bacteriol.) A culture made by inoculating a solid medium, as gelatin, with the puncture of a needle or wire. The growths are usually of characteristic form.

Stabat Mater Sta"bat Ma"ter [ Latin , the mother was standing.] A celebrated Latin hymn, beginning with these words, commemorating the sorrows of the mother of our Lord at the foot of the cross. It is read in the Mass of the Sorrows of the Virgin Mary, and is sung by Catholics when making "the way of the cross" ( Via Crucis ). See Station , 7 (c) .

Stabber Stab"ber noun 1. One who, or that which, stabs; a privy murderer.

2. (Nautical) A small marline spike; a pricker.

Stabbingly Stab"bing·ly adverb By stabbing; with intent to injure covertly. Bp. Parker.

Stabiliment Sta·bil"i·ment noun [ Latin stabilimentum , from stabilire to make firm ir stable, from stabilis . See Stable , adjective ] The act of making firm; firm support; establishment. [ R.] Jer. taylor.

They serve for stabiliment , propagation, and shade.

Derham.

Stabilitate Sta·bil"i·tate transitive verb [ Late Latin stabilitatus , past participle of stabilitare to make stable.] To make stable; to establish. [ Obsolete] Dr. H. More.

Stability Sta·bil"i·ty noun [ Latin stabilitas ; confer French stabilité . See Stable , adjective ] 1. The state or quality of being stable, or firm; steadiness; firmness; strength to stand without being moved or overthrown; as, the stability of a structure; the stability of a throne or a constitution.

2. Steadiness or firmness of character, firmness of resolution or purpose; the quality opposite to fickleness , irresolution , or inconstancy ; constancy; steadfastness; as, a man of little stability , or of unusual stability .

3. Fixedness; -- as opposed to fluidity .

Since fluidness and stability are contary qualities.

Boyle.

Syn. -- Steadiness; stableness; constancy; immovability; firmness.

Stable Sta"ble adjective [ Middle English estable , French stable , from Latin stabilis , from stare to stand. See Stand , intransitive verb and confer Establish .] 1. Firmly established; not easily moved, shaken, or overthrown; fixed; as, a stable government.

In this region of chance, . . . where nothing is stable .

Rogers.

2. Steady in purpose; constant; firm in resolution; not easily diverted from a purpose; not fickle or wavering; as, a man of stable character.

And to her husband ever meek and stable .

Chaucer.

3. Durable; not subject to overthrow or change; firm; as, a stable foundation; a stable position.

Stable equibrium (Mech.) , the kind of equilibrium of a body so placed that if disturbed it returns to its former position, as in the case when the center of gravity is below the point or axis of support; -- opposed to unstable equilibrium , in which the body if disturbed does not tend to return to its former position, but to move farther away from it, as in the case of a body supported at a point below the center of gravity. Confer Neutral equilibrium , under Neutral .

Syn. -- Fixed; steady; constant; abiding; strong; durable; firm.

Stable Sta"ble transitive verb To fix; to establish. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Stable Sta"ble noun [ Old French estable , French étable , from Latin stabulum , from stare to stand. See Stand , intransitive verb ] A house, shed, or building, for beasts to lodge and feed in; esp., a building or apartment with stalls, for horses; as, a horse stable ; a cow stable . Milton.

Stable fly (Zoology) , a common dipterous fly ( Stomoxys calcitrans ) which is abundant about stables and often enters dwellings, especially in autumn. These files, unlike the common house files, which they resemble, bite severely, and are troublesome to horses and cattle.

Stable Sta"ble transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Stabled ; present participle & verbal noun Stabling .] To put or keep in a stable.

Stable Sta"ble intransitive verb To dwell or lodge in a stable; to dwell in an inclosed place; to kennel. Milton.

Stable Sta"ble adjective (Physics) So placed as to resist forces tending to cause motion; of such structure as to resist distortion or molecular or chemical disturbance; -- said of any body or substance.

Stable stand Sta"ble stand` (O.Eng. Law) The position of a man who is found at his standing in the forest, with a crossbow or a longbow bent, ready to shoot at a deer, or close by a tree with greyhounds in a leash ready to slip; -- one of the four presumptions that a man intends stealing the king's deer. Wharton.

Stableboy, Stableman Sta"ble·boy`, Sta"ble·man noun A boy or man who attends in a stable; a groom; a hostler.

Stableness Sta"ble·ness noun The quality or state of being stable, or firmly established; stability.

Stabler Sta"bler noun A stable keeper. De Foe.

Stabling Sta"bling noun 1. The act or practice of keeping horses and cattle in a stable.

2. A building, shed, or room for horses and cattle.

Stablish Stab"lish transitive verb [ Aphetic form of establish .] To settle permanently in a state; to make firm; to establish; to fix. [ Obsolete] 2 Sam. vii. 13.

Stablishment Stab"lish·ment noun Establishment. [ Obsolete]

Stably Sta"bly adverb In a stable manner; firmly; fixedly; steadily; as, a government stably settled.

Stabulation Stab`u·la"tion noun [ Latin stabulatio , from stabulari to stable cattle, from stabulum . See Stable , noun ] 1. The act of stabling or housing beasts.

2. A place for lodging beasts; a stable. [ Obsolete]

Staccato Stac·ca"to adjective [ Italian , past participle of staccere , equivalent to distaccare . See Detach .] 1. (Mus.) Disconnected; separated; distinct; -- a direction to perform the notes of a passage in a short, distinct, and pointed manner. It is opposed to legato , and often indicated by heavy accents written over or under the notes, or by dots when the performance is to be less distinct and emphatic.

2. Expressed in a brief, pointed manner.

Staccato and peremptory [ literary criticism].

G. Eliot.

Stack Stack adjective [ Icelandic stakkr ; akin to Swedish stack , Danish stak . Sf. Stake .] 1. A large pile of hay, grain, straw, or the like, usually of a nearly conical form, but sometimes rectangular or oblong, contracted at the top to a point or ridge, and sometimes covered with thatch.

But corn was housed, and beans were in the stack .

Cowper.

2. A pile of poles or wood, indefinite in quantity.

Against every pillar was a stack of billets above a man's height.

Bacon.

3. A pile of wood containing 108 cubic feet. [ Eng.]

4. (Architecture) (a) A number of flues embodied in one structure, rising above the roof. Hence: (b) Any single insulated and prominent structure, or upright pipe, which affords a conduit for smoke; as, the brick smoke stack of a factory; the smoke stack of a steam vessel.

Stack of arms (Mil.) , a number of muskets or rifles set up together, with the bayonets crossing one another, forming a sort of conical self-supporting pile.

Stack Stack transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Stacked ; present participle & verbal noun Stacking .] [ Confer Swedish stacka , Danish stakke . See Stack , noun ] To lay in a conical or other pile; to make into a large pile; as, to stack hay, cornstalks, or grain; to stack or place wood.

To stack arms (Mil.) , to set up a number of muskets or rifles together, with the bayonets crossing one another, and forming a sort of conical pile.

Stack-guard Stack"-guard` noun A covering or protection, as a canvas, for a stack.

Stackage Stack"age noun 1. Hay, gray, or the like, in stacks; things stacked. [ R.]

2. A tax on things stacked. [ R.] Holinshed.

Stacket Stack"et noun [ Confer French estacade and English stockade .] (Mil.) A stockade. [ Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

Stacking Stack"ing adjective & noun from Stack .

Stacking band , Stacking belt , a band or rope used in binding thatch or straw upon a stack. -- Stacking stage , a stage used in building stacks.

Stackstand Stack"stand` noun A staging for supporting a stack of hay or grain; a rickstand.

Stackyard Stack"yard` noun A yard or inclosure for stacks of hay or grain. A. Smith.

Stacte Stac"te noun [ Latin , from Greek ..., strictly fem. of ... cozing out in drops, from ... to drop.] One of the sweet spices used by the ancient Jews in the preparation of incense. It was perhaps an oil or other form of myrrh or cinnamon, or a kind of storax. Ex. xxx. 34.

Staddle Stad"dle noun [ Anglo-Saxon staðol , sraðul , a foundation, firm seat; akin to English stand . √163. See Stand , intransitive verb ] [ Formerly written stadle .] 1. Anything which serves for support; a staff; a prop; a crutch; a cane.

His weak steps governing
And aged limbs on cypress stadle stout.

Spenser.

2. The frame of a stack of hay or grain. [ Eng.]

3. A row of dried or drying hay, etc. [ Eng.]

4. A small tree of any kind, especially a forest tree.

» In America, trees are called staddles from the time that they are three or four years old till they are six or eight inches in diameter, or more. This is also the sense in which the word is used by Bacon and Tusser.

Staddle Stad"dle transitive verb 1. To leave the staddles, or saplings, of, as a wood when it is cut. [ R.] Tusser.

2. To form into staddles, as hay. [ Eng.]

Stade Stade noun [ Confer French stade .] A stadium. Donne.

Stade Stade noun [ Confer German gestade shore.] A landing place or wharf. Knight.

Stadia hairs, wires Sta"di·a hairs, wires (Surv.) In a theodolite, etc., horizontal cross wires or hairs equidistant from the central horizontal cross wire.

Stadimeter Sta·dim"e·ter noun [ Stadium + -meter .] A horizontal graduated bar mounted on a staff, used as a stadium, or telemeter, for measuring distances.

Stadium Sta"di·um noun ; plural Stadia . [ Latin , a stadium (in sense 1), from Greek ....] 1. A Greek measure of length, being the chief one used for itinerary distances, also adopted by the Romans for nautical and astronomical measurements. It was equal to 600 Greek or 625 Roman feet, or 125 Roman paces, or to 606 feet 9 inches English. This was also called the Olympic stadium , as being the exact length of the foot-race course at Olympia. Dr. W. Smith.

2. Hence, a race course; especially, the Olympic course for foot races.

3. A kind of telemeter for measuring the distance of an object of known dimensions, by observing the angle it subtends; especially (Surveying) , a graduated rod used to measure the distance of the place where it stands from an instrument having a telescope, by observing the number of the graduations of the rod that are seen between certain parallel wires ( stadia wires ) in the field of view of the telescope; -- also called stadia , and stadia rod .

Stadium Sta"di·um noun A modern structure, with its inclosure, resembling the ancient stadium, used for athletic games, etc.

Stadtholder Stadt"hold`er noun [ Dutch stadhouder ; stad a city, a town + houder a holder.] Formerly, the chief magistrate of the United Provinces of Holland; also, the governor or lieutenant governor of a province.

Stadtholderate, Stadtholdership Stadt"hold`er·ate, Stadt"hold`er·ship noun The office or position of a stadtholder.

Stafette Sta·fette" noun [ Confer German stafette . See Estafet .] An estafet. [ R.] arlyle.

Staff Staff noun ; plural Staves (... or ...; 277) or Staffs in senses 1-9, Staffs in senses 10, 11. [ Anglo-Saxon stæf a staff; akin to LG. & Dutch staf , OFries stef , German stab , Icelandic stafr , Swedish staf , Danish stav , Goth. stabs element, rudiment, Sanskrit sthāpay to cause to stand, to place. See Stand , and confer Stab , Stave , noun ] 1. A long piece of wood; a stick; the long handle of an instrument or weapon; a pole or srick, used for many purposes; as, a surveyor's staff ; the staff of a spear or pike.

And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar to bear it withal.

Ex. xxxviii. 7.

With forks and staves the felon to pursue.

Dryden.

2. A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a person walking; hence, a support; that which props or upholds. "Hooked staves ." Piers Plowman.

The boy was the very staff of my age.

Shak.

He spoke of it [ beer] in "The Earnest Cry," and likewise in the "Scotch Drink," as one of the staffs of life which had been struck from the poor man's hand.

Prof. Wilson.

3. A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office; as, a constable's staff .

Methought this staff , mine office badge in court,
Was broke in twain.

Shak.

All his officers brake their staves ; but at their return new staves were delivered unto them.

Hayward.

4. A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.

5. The round of a ladder. [ R.]

I ascend at one [ ladder] of six hundred and thirty-nine staves .

Dr. J. Campbell (E. Brown's Travels).

6. A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.

Cowley found out that no kind of staff is proper for an heroic poem, as being all too lyrical.

Dryden.

7. (Mus.) The five lines and the spaces on which music is written; -- formerly called stave .

8. (Mech.) An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.

9. (Surg.) The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.

10. [ From Staff , 3, a badge of office.] (Mil.) An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution. See État Major .

11. Hence: A body of assistants serving to carry into effect the plans of a superintendant or manager; as, the staff of a newspaper.

Jacob's staff (Surv.) , a single straight rod or staff, pointed and iron-shod at the bottom, for penetrating the ground, and having a socket joint at the top, used, instead of a tripod, for supporting a compass. -- Staff angle (Architecture) , a square rod of wood standing flush with the wall on each of its sides, at the external angles of plastering, to prevent their being damaged. -- The staff of life , bread. "Bread is the staff of life ." Swift. -- Staff tree (Botany) , any plant of the genus Celastrus , mostly climbing shrubs of the northern hemisphere. The American species ( C. scandens ) is commonly called bittersweet . See 2d Bittersweet , 3 (b) . -- To set , or To put , up, or down , one's staff , to take up one's residence; to lodge. [ Obsolete]

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