stainless

[Eng. stain; -le .] 1. Lit .: Free from spots or stains; spotle . "The phenix wings are not so rare For faultle length and stainle hen." Sidney: Arcadia , ii. 2. Fig .: Free from the stain of guilt or crime; unsullied, immaculate, pure. "A man of parts and learning, of quick sensibility and stainle virtue." -Macaulay : Hist. Eng ., ch. iv. stāin-lě -ly, adv . [Eng. stainle : -ly.] In a stainle manner; with freedoru from stain. stäir, staire, *stayre, *steir, *steire, *steyer, 8. [A. S. stæger =a stair, a step, from stáh , pa. t. of stigan to climb; cogn. with Dut. steiger a stair; stegel a stirrup; stijgen to mount; Icel. stigi , stegi =a step, a ladder; stigr =a path; stiga to mount; Sw. steg a round of a ladder; stege a ladder; Dan. stige a ladder; sti =a path; stige =to mount; Ger. stega path; steigen to mount.] I. Literally : *1. Any succe ion of steps to ascend by; as a ladder. "Draw me into bli e, ne steyers to ste ye on is none, so that without recouer endle e, here to endure I wote well I purueide." -Chaucer: Testament of Love , i. 2. One of a series of steps for ascending or descending from one story of a house to the next; in the plural, a succe ion of steps rising one above the other, and arranged as a means of ascent between two parts of a building at different heights. 3. Steps leading down to the waterside for convenience in entering or leaving a boat. "The Thames, by water when I took the air, That danced my barge, in launching from the stair ." Drayton: Elenor Cobham to Duke Humphry. *II. Fig .: A step, a degree. "High honors staire ."-Spenser: F. Q., I. ii. 23. 3825 I. Ordinary Language: 1. A long piece of wood or timber, espec. a piece pointed at one end and stuck or set in the ground, or prepared for setting, as a support to anything. a part of a fence, .; an upright bar to support a vine or tree. One of the uprights of a wattled fence or screen. One of the pieces of timber leaning against the corner of a worm-fence, and serving with its fellow on the other side to hold the rider rail. 2. The post to which persons condemned to be burnt to death were fastened; as, to suffer at the stake, i. e., to suffer death by burning. 3. The post to which a bear or bull was tied to be baited. "Call hither to the stake my two brave bears." Shakesp.: Henry VI ., Pt . II ., v. 1. *4. A pyre. "Place barrels of pitch upon the fatal stake." Shakesp.: Henry VI., Pt. I., v. 4. *5. Judgment; execution generally. "Bringing the murderous coward to the stake." Shakesp.: Lear, ii. 1. 6. That which is staked, pledged, or wagered; that which is laid down or hazarded to abide the i ue of an event, and to be gained or lost by victory or defeat. IMG:content-0174.png:[blocks in formation] 1. Currying: A post on which a skin is stretched while currying or graining. 2. Metal - working : A small anvil used by blacksmiths and sheet-metal workers. It usually has a tang, by which it is stuck in a square socket of a bench, block, or anvil. It has various forms in different trades. 3. Shipwright .: A strake (q. v.). 4. Vehicles: An upright or standard, to keep a log or a load from shifting sideways.