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Observe vs Stalk - What's the difference?

observe | stalk |

In transitive terms the difference between observe and stalk

is that observe is to follow or obey the custom, practice, or rules (especially of a religion) while stalk is to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment.Wp

In intransitive terms the difference between observe and stalk

is that observe is to comment on something; to make an observation while stalk is to walk haughtily.

As a noun stalk is

the stem or main axis of a plant, which supports the seed-carrying parts.

observe

English

Verb

(observ)
  • (lb) To notice or view, especially carefully or with attention to detail.
  • :
  • *1892 , (Arthur Conan Doyle),
  • *:“One horse?” interjected Holmes. ¶ “Yes, only one.” ¶ “Did you observe the colour?”
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-03, author=Frank Fish, George Lauder
    • , volume=101, issue=2, page=114, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Not Just Going with the Flow , passage=An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex . The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.}}
  • (lb) To follow or obey the custom, practice, or rules (especially of a religion).
  • :
  • *Bible, (w)
  • *:Ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 10, author=Jeremy Wilson, work=Telegraph
    • , title= England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report , passage=A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After Fifa’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was altogether more straightforward. }}
  • (lb) To comment on something; to make an observation.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ ("I never) understood it," she observed , lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."

    • Synonyms

    * (follow a custom) celebrate

    Derived terms

    * observance * observant * observation * observational * observatory * observer

    External links

    * *

    Anagrams

    * * English reporting verbs ----

    stalk

    English

    (wikipedia stalk)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) stalke, diminutive of stale'' 'ladder upright, stalk', from (etyl) stalu 'wooden upright', from (etyl) ).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The stem or main axis of a plant, which supports the seed-carrying parts.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, withon one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs.
  • The petiole, pedicel, or peduncle of a plant.
  • Something resembling the stalk of a plant, such as the stem of a quill.
  • :(Grew)
  • (lb) An ornament in the Corinthian capital resembling the stalk of a plant, from which the volutes and helices spring.
  • One of the two upright pieces of a ladder.
  • :(Chaucer)
  • (label)
  • #A stem or peduncle, as in certain barnacles and crinoids.
  • #The narrow basal portion of the abdomen of a hymenopterous insect.
  • #The peduncle of the eyes of decapod crustaceans.
  • (lb) An iron bar with projections inserted in a core to strengthen it; a core arbor.

    • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) stalken, from (etyl) -).Robert K. Barnhart and Sol Steinmetz, eds., ''Chambers Dictionary of Etymology , s.v. "stalk2" (New York: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd., 2006), 1057. Alternate etymology connects (etyl) 'to steal'.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (lb) To approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer.
  • *Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
  • *:As for shooting a man from behind a wall, it is cruelly like to stalking a deer.
  • *
  • *:But they had already discovered that he could be bullied, and they had it their own way; and presently Selwyn lay prone upon the nursery floor, impersonating a ladrone while pleasant shivers chased themselves over Drina, whom he was stalking .
  • (lb) To (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment.(w)
  • :
  • (lb) To walk slowly and cautiously; to walk in a stealthy, noiseless manner.
  • *(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • *:[Bertran] stalks close behind her, like a witch's fiend, / Pressing to be employed.
  • :(Shakespeare)
  • (lb) To walk behind something, such as a screen, for the purpose of approaching game; to proceed under cover.
  • *(Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
  • *:The king"I must stalk ," said he.
  • *(Michael Drayton) (1563-1631)
  • *:One underneath his horse, to get a shoot doth stalk .
    • Conjugation
    (en-conj-simple)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A particular episode of trying to follow or contact someone.
  • A hunt (of a wild animal).
    • Related terms
    * stalker

    References

    Etymology 3

    1530, 'to walk haughtily', perhaps from (etyl) 'high, lofty, steep, stiff'; see above

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To walk haughtily.
  • * Dryden
    • With manly mien he stalked along the ground.
  • * Addison
    • Then stalking through the deep, / He fords the ocean.
  • * Mericale
    • I forbear myself from entering the lists in which he has long stalked alone and unchallenged.

    Anagrams

    * English terms with multiple etymologies ----