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Stalk vs Steer - What's the difference?

stalk | steer |

In transitive terms the difference between stalk and steer

is that stalk is to (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment.Wpsteer is to direct a conversation.

In intransitive terms the difference between stalk and steer

is that stalk is to walk haughtily while steer is to be directed and governed; to take a direction, or course; to obey the helm.

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).
  • 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.

    steer

    English

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The castrated male of cattle, especially one raised for beef production.
  • * 1913 , (Willa Cather),
  • He counted the cattle over and over. It diverted him to speculate as to how much weight each of the steers would probably put on by spring.
    Synonyms
    * ox
    Hypernyms
    * cattle
    Coordinate terms
    * bull, calf, cow

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To castrate (a male calf).
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) stieran.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (informal) A suggestion about a course of action.
  • I tried to give you the steer , but I guess I didn't get it over. Everybody knew it but you.'' (Mark Hellinger, 1939, ''The Roaring Twenties )

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To guide the course of a vessel, vehicle, aircraft etc. (by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or steering wheel).
  • When planning the boat trip we had completely forgotten that we needed somebody to steer .
  • * Tennyson
  • No helmsman steers .
  • To guide the course of a vessel, vehicle, aircraft etc. (by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or steering wheel).
  • I find it very difficult to steer a skateboard.
    I steered my steps homeward.
  • To be directed and governed; to take a direction, or course; to obey the helm.
  • The boat steers easily.
  • * Milton
  • Where the wind / Veers oft, as oft [a ship] so steers , and shifts her sail.
  • To direct a group of animals.
  • To maneuver or manipulate a person or group into a place or course of action.
  • Hume believes that principles of association steer the imagination of artists.
  • To direct a conversation.
  • To conduct oneself; to take or pursue a course of action.
  • See also
    * steering wheel * torque steer

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A helmsman; a pilot.
  • (Chaucer)