Sneak vs Stalk - What's the difference?
sneak | stalk |
One who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information.
A cheat; a con artist; a trickster
An informer; a tell-tale.
(obsolete, cricket) A ball bowled so as to roll along the ground; a daisy-cutter
To creep or go stealthily; to come or go while trying to avoid detection, as a person who does not wish to be seen.
To take something stealthily without permission.
(dated) To hide, especially in a mean or cowardly manner.
* Wake
(informal, especially with on) To inform an authority about another's misdemeanours; to tell tales; to grass.
In advance; before release to the general public.
In a stealthy or surreptitious manner.
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.
(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 .
A particular episode of trying to follow or contact someone.
A hunt (of a wild animal).
To walk haughtily.
* Dryden
* Addison
* Mericale
As nouns the difference between sneak and stalk
is that sneak is one who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information while stalk is the stem or main axis of a plant, which supports the seed-carrying parts or stalk can be a particular episode of trying to follow or contact someone.As verbs the difference between sneak and stalk
is that sneak is to creep or go stealthily; to come or go while trying to avoid detection, as a person who does not wish to be seen while stalk is (lb) to approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer or stalk can be to walk haughtily.As a adjective sneak
is in advance; before release to the general public.sneak
English
Noun
(en noun)- My little brother is such a sneak - yesterday I caught him trying to look through my diary.
- I can't believe I gave that sneak $50 for a ticket when they were selling for $20 at the front gate.
Verb
- He decided to sneak into the kitchen for a second cookie while his mom was on the phone.
- I went to sneak a chocolate but my dad caught me.
- [Slander] sneaks its head.
- If you sneak on me I'll bash you!
Usage notes
* The past and past participle snuck'' is primarily found in North American English, where it originated in the late 19th century as a dialectal form. It is still regarded as informal by some, but its use appears to be increasing in frequency and acceptability. It is occasionally found in British and Australian/Hiberno-English, too, though regarded as an American form. (SeeOxford Dictionaries, ''The Cambridge Guide to English Usage'', ''Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary'', ''Webster's New World College Dictionary .) * To sneak'' (take) something is not the same as to ''steal'' something. In this sense, ''sneak'' typically implies trying to avoid a supervisor's or guardian's mild displeasure or mild discipline, while ''steal indicates a more serious action and often the person stealing does not know the owner of the item being stolen.
Derived terms
* sneaker * sneaky * sneakily * sneakiness * sneak peek * sneak preview * sneak thief * sneak away * sneak in * sneak off * sneak out * sneak up/sneak up on * sneak aroundAdjective
(-)- The company gave us a sneak look at their new electronic devices.
- I was able to get a sneak peek at the guest list.
Derived terms
* sneak peek * sneak previewAnagrams
* * English irregular verbsstalk
English
(wikipedia stalk)Etymology 1
From (etyl) stalke, diminutive of stale'' 'ladder upright, stalk', from (etyl) stalu 'wooden upright', from (etyl) ).Noun
(en noun)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)Conjugation
(en-conj-simple)Noun
(en noun)References
Etymology 3
1530, 'to walk haughtily', perhaps from (etyl) 'high, lofty, steep, stiff'; see aboveVerb
(en verb)- With manly mien he stalked along the ground.
- Then stalking through the deep, / He fords the ocean.
- I forbear myself from entering the lists in which he has long stalked alone and unchallenged.