Emily Dickinson Lexicon

stain (-ed, -s), v. [OFr < “distain”, to remove the dye from, to lose color, fade, be washed out.]

1. Cause a discoloration.
2. Taint; weaken.

stair (-s), n. [OE 'to climb, scaffolding, landing-stage'; “sty” < L. 'footstep, trace'.]

Ascending series of steps; staircase.

stake (-s), n. [OE 'to pierce, thrust in'.]

1. Long wooden pole driven into the ground to which a person was bound and burned, or upon which a person was impaled.
2. Peg driven into the ground as support for a tent.
3. Sundial.

stake (-d, staking), v. [see stake, n.]

Mark off; delineate boundaries.

stake (staking), v. [obscure origin.]

Wager; bet.

stalactite, n. [L. < Gk. 'dropping, dripping'.]

1. Icicle-like rock formation; geologic structure that hangs in caves; downward cone of calcium carbonate that grows when water drips through rocks.
2. Lengthy process.

stale, adj. [obscure origin; poss. OE 'to stand'.]

1. Tasteless; not fresh; less novel; [fig.] useless; worn out.
2. Common; ordinary.

stalk, n. [ME < “steal”, 'stem, handle'.]

Stem; shoot of a plant; main access of a plant; support structure for vegetation.

stall (-s), v. [ME 'to place'.]

Dwell; inhabit.

stamen (-s), n. [L. 'the warp in the upright loom of the ancients, a thread or fiber in general'.]

Pollenation organ; filiment and anther in a flower.