stall

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
stall/stɔːl/

▶noun

• 1 a stand, booth, or compartment for the sale of goods in a market.

• 2 an individual compartment for an animal in a stable or cowshed, enclosed on three sides.

  ■ a stable or cowshed.

  ■ (also starting stall) a cage-like compartment in which a horse is held prior to the start of a race.

• 3 a compartment for one person in a set of toilets, shower cubicles, etc.

  ■ N. Amer. a marked-out parking space.

• 4 a seat in the choir or chancel of a church, enclosed at the back and sides and often canopied, typically reserved for a member of the clergy.

• 5 (stalls) Brit. the ground-floor seats in a theatre.

• 6 an instance of an engine or vehicle stalling.

▶verb

• 1 (with reference to a motor vehicle or its engine) stop or cause to stop running.

  ■ (of an aircraft) be moving at a speed too low to allow effective operation of the controls.

  ■ Sailing have insufficient wind power to give controlled motion.

• 2 stop making progress.

• 3 prevaricate.

  ■ delay or divert by prevarication.

• 4 keep (an animal) in a stall, especially in order to fatten it.

– origin OE steall ‘stable or cattle shed’, of Gmc origin; rel. to stand.