stalker

UK: /ˈstɔːkə^r/

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

stalk¹ /stɔk/   n. [countable]

1. Botany the stem of a plant.
2. a shaft or slender supporting part of anything.

stalk² /stɔk/   v. 

1. Animal Behavior [~ + object]
   • to pursue for the purpose of capturing, without being seen or noticed:
     hunters stalking a deer.
   • to follow (a person) continually, usually to gain attention:
     celebrities being stalked by unstable fans.
2. to roam through (an area) without being easily noticed:
   [~ + object] Killers stalked the park at night.
3. to walk with stiff or proud strides:
   [no object] stalked angrily out of the room.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

stalk¹ (stôk),  n. 

1. Botany the stem or main axis of a plant.
2. Botany any slender supporting or connecting part of a plant, as the petiole of a leaf, the peduncle of a flower, or the funicle of an ovule.
3. Zoology a similar structural part of an animal.
4. a stem, shaft, or slender supporting part of anything.
5. Automotive a slender lever, usually mounted on or near the steering wheel, that is used by the driver to control a signal or function:
   The horn button is on the turn-signal stalk.

• Middle English stalke, apparently equivalent. to Old English stal(u) stave + -k diminutive suffix 1275–1325

stalk′like′, adj. 

stalk² (stôk),  v.i. 

1. Animal Behavior to pursue or approach prey, quarry, etc., stealthily.
2. to walk with measured, stiff, or haughty strides:
   He was so angry he stalked away without saying goodbye.
3. to proceed in a steady, deliberate, or sinister manner:
   Famine stalked through the nation.
4. [Obs.] to walk or go stealthily along.

v.t. 

5. to pursue (game, a person, etc.) stealthily.
6. to proceed through (an area) in search of prey or quarry:
   to stalk the woods for game.
7. to proceed or spread through in a steady or sinister manner:
   Disease stalked the land.

n. 

8. an act or course of stalking quarry, prey, or the like:
   We shot the mountain goat after a five-hour stalk.
9. a slow, stiff stride or gait.

• 1250–1300; Middle English stalken (verb, verbal), representing the base of Old English bestealcian to move stealthily, stealcung stalking (gerund, gerundive); akin to steal

stalk′a•ble, adj. 
stalk′er, n. 
stalk′ing•ly, adv.