Stable \Sta"ble\ (st[=a]"b'l), a. [OF. estable, F. stable, fr.
L. stabilis, fr. stare to stand. See Stand, v. i. and cf.
Establish.]
1. Firmly established; not easily moved, shaken, or
overthrown; fixed; as, a stable government.
[1913 Webster]
In this region of chance, . . . where nothing is
stable. --Rogers.
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2. Steady in purpose; constant; firm in resolution; not
easily diverted from a purpose; not fickle or wavering;
as, a man of stable character.
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And to her husband ever meek and stable. --Chaucer.
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3. Durable; not subject to overthrow or change; firm; as, a
stable foundation; a stable position.
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4. (Physics) So placed as to resist forces tending to cause
motion; of such structure as to resist distortion or
molecular or chemical disturbance; -- said of any body or
substance.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Stable equilibrium (Mech.), the kind of equilibrium of a
body so placed that if disturbed it returns to its former
position, as in the case when the center of gravity is
below the point or axis of support; -- opposed to
unstable equilibrium, in which the body if disturbed
does not tend to return to its former position, but to
move farther away from it, as in the case of a body
supported at a point below the center of gravity. Cf.
Neutral equilibrium, under Neutral.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Fixed; steady; constant; abiding; strong; durable; firm.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Stable \Sta"ble\, v. t.
To fix; to establish. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Stable \Sta"ble\, n. [OF. estable, F. ['e]table, from L.
stabulum, fr. stare to stand. See Stand, v. i.]
A house, shed, or building, for beasts to lodge and feed in;
esp., a building or apartment with stalls, for horses; as, a
horse stable; a cow stable. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
Stable fly (Zool.), a common dipterous fly ({Stomoxys
calcitrans) which is abundant about stables and often
enters dwellings, especially in autumn; called also
biting house fly. These flies, unlike the common house
flies, which they resemble, bite severely, and are
troublesome to horses and cattle. They differ from the
larger horse fly.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Stable \Sta"ble\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stabled (-b'ld); p. pr.
& vb. n. Stabling (-bl[i^]ng).]
To put or keep in a stable.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Stable \Sta"ble\, v. i.
To dwell or lodge in a stable; to dwell in an inclosed place;
to kennel. --Milton.
[1913 Webster] Stableboy
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
stable
adj 1: resistant to change of position or condition; "a stable
ladder"; "a stable peace"; "a stable relationship";
"stable prices" [ant: unstable]
2: firm and dependable; subject to little fluctuation; "the
economy is stable"
3: not taking part readily in chemical change
4: maintaining equilibrium
5: showing little if any change; "a static population" [syn: static,
unchanging]
n : a farm building for housing horses or other livestock [syn:
stalls, horse barn]
v : shelter in a stable; "stable horses"
WordNet (r) 2.0
413 Moby Thesaurus words for "stable":
Augean stables, abiding, accordant, accountable, adamantine,
age group, age-long, aged, alike, ancient, antique, articulated,
assiduous, automatic, balanced, band, barn, battalion, bed,
beleaguer, berth, beset, besiege, bevy, billet, blockade, body,
bound, box in, brigade, bulky, bunch, bunk, byre, cabal, cage,
calculable, cast, catenated, ceaseless, chamber, changeless,
chastened, chronic, clique, close in, cohort, company, compass,
competent, complement, concatenated, connected, consistent,
consonant, constant, constrained, contain, contingent, continual,
continued, continuing, continuous, controlled, cool, coop, coop in,
coop up, cordon, cordon off, corps, corral, correspondent, coterie,
covey, cowbarn, cowbyre, cowhouse, cowshed, crew, crowd, cyclical,
deep-rooted, dense, dependable, detachment, detail, devoted,
diligent, direct, diuturnal, division, dogged, domicile,
domiciliate, dump, durable, encircle, enclose, encompass, endless,
enduring, enshrine, entry, equable, equal, established, even,
evergreen, faction, fail-safe, faithful, faithworthy, fast,
favorite, featureless, fence in, fiducial, firm, firm as Gibraltar,
fixed, flat, fleet, frozen, gang, gapless, group, grouping,
groupment, guaranteed, harbor, hard, hardy, harmless, heavy,
hedge in, hem in, hole, homogeneous, house, house in, hovel,
hushed, immediate, immobile, immutable, imperturbable, impound,
imprison, in control, in equilibrium, in hand, in-group,
inalterable, incarcerate, incessant, include, indefatigable,
indomitable, industrious, infrangible, insistent, intact,
interminable, intransient, invariable, inveterate, invincible,
inviolate, invulnerable, jail, joined, jointless, junta, kennel,
lasting, leaguer, level, limited, linked, lodge, long-lasting,
long-lived, long-standing, long-term, longeval, longevous, loyal,
macrobiotic, made of iron, marble-constant, massive, measured,
mechanical, methodic, mew, mew up, mews, mob, monolithic,
monotonous, movement, mudder, never-ending, never-tiring, nonstop,
obstinate, of a piece, of long duration, of long standing, ordered,
orderly, out-group, outfit, pack, party, patient, patient as Job,
peer group, pen, pen in, perdurable, perduring, perennial,
periodic, permanent, perpetual, perseverant, persevering,
persistent, persisting, pertinacious, pesthole, phalanx, pigpen,
pigsty, plague spot, plate horse, plater, platoon, plodding,
plugging, pocket, poised, pole horse, pony, posse, predictable,
preoccupied, put up, quarantine, quarter, quelled, quiescent,
race horse, racer, rail in, rapt, reasonable, recurrent, regiment,
regular, relentless, reliable, remaining, repetitive, resolute,
responsible, restrained, rigid, riskless, robotlike, rookery, room,
round-the-clock, rugged, running, safe, salon, sane, seamless,
secure, sedulous, sempervirent, sensible, serried, set, shelter,
shrine, shut in, shut up, single-minded, sleepless, slogging, slum,
smooth, solid, sound, squad, stabile, stake horse, staker, stall,
starter, static, stationary, staunch, staying, steadfast, steady,
steeplechaser, stout, straight, string, strong, stubborn, sturdy,
sty, subdued, substantial, sure, surefire, surround, sustained,
systematic, team, tempered, tenacious, tenement, the slums,
tireless, torpid, tough, tribe, troop, troupe, true, true-blue,
trustworthy, trusty, twenty-four-hour, unabating, unalterable,
unaltered, unassailable, unbreakable, unbroken, unceasing,
unchangeable, unchanged, unchanging, unchecked, unconquerable,
undangerous, undaunted, undestroyed, undeviating, undifferentiated,
undiscouraged, undiversified, undrooping, unending, unfading,
unfailing, unfaltering, unflagging, unflappable, unflinching,
unhazardous, uniform, unintermitted, unintermittent,
unintermitting, uninterrupted, unnodding, unperilous, unprecarious,
unrelaxing, unrelenting, unrelieved, unremitting, unrisky,
unruffled, unshakable, unshifting, unsleeping, unstopped,
unswerving, untiring, unvaried, unvarying, unwavering, unwearied,
unwearying, unwinking, unyielding, utterly attentive, vital,
wall in, warranteed, warren, weariless, well-balanced, well-built,
well-constructed, well-founded, well-grounded, well-made, wing,
without nerves, wrap, yard, yard up
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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