tabilize (BrE also -ise) /'steibelaiz/ verb to become or to make sth become firm, steady and
unlikely to change; to make sth stable ( fjg ) fijj? • [V] The
patient’s condition stabilized. B M 'If Hi ^ X 0
[VN] government
measures to stabilize prices Iff II X iit fife O Doctors
stabilized the patient’s condition. A A ill k B # ^ 1f H X' T M o — compare destabilize
► sta bil iza tion, -isation /.steibelai'zeijn; NAmE -la’z-/ noun
[U]: economic stabilization r#jXf£
sta bil izer (BrE also -iser) /‘steibalaiza(r)/ noun 1 a device that keeps sth steady, especially one that stops an aircraft or
a ship from rolling to one side || X
g * ; ( X #1 M ) £ X m ; C l& JW W.) «1:
2 stabilizers [pi ] (BrE) (NAmE 'training wheels) small wheels that are
fitted at each side of the back wheel on a child’s bicycle to stop it from
falling over ( JIM S ff ) HX$& 3 (technical A if) a
chemical that is sometimes added to food or paint to stop the various
substances in it from becoming separate HXM Stable /’steibl/ adj.,
noun, verb
ss adj. 1 firmly fixed; not likely to move,
change or
failhx#j;
hm;
1$ FW71 steady : stable prices HX4HJ ffrl# 0 a
stable relationship HXGfl o This
ladder doesn’t seem very stable, f^AAHo
0 The patient’s condition is
stable (= it is not getting worse). HXo 2 (of a
person A) calm and reasonable; not easily upset
H jt GX aaa balanced:
Mentally,
she is
not very stable. MftfjA'JIlfcS A A/HiX o 3 (technical A if) (of a
substance M) staying in the same chemical or ATOMIC state (
ft# A ;£ SKII AA & ) II X : chemically stable
ffc#AiSliX$J rn-31 unstable ► stably /’steibli/ adv.
» noun 1 [C] a building in which
horses are kept S, Jjj& 2 (Brf also stables) [C+sing./pl. v.] an organization that keeps
horses for a particular purpose (
3,/A (fir£) a riding/racing stables / o His stables
are near
#3;; There have been just three winners from his stable
this season, ikflk#J X; H WX„ 4 [singj a group of people who work
or trained in the same place; a group of products made by the same company
() --rttA; (
) ^^iJAop: actors from the same stable |w]--jg!|glftfj
Ji A If M m O the latest printer from the Epson stable
■ verb [VN] to put or keep a horse in a
stable f£ ( 3, ) A
M; IE ( Dj ) & : Where do you stable your pony?
mmmmwji?
stable boy, stable girl (BrE also stable lad) noun a person who works in a stable
ts]#S;$jA; S,ff; S,A stable companion noun = stablemate(2)
.stable ‘door (BrE) (NAmE .Dutch 'door) noun a door which is divided
into two parts so that the top part can be left open while the bottom part is
kept shut ^ He A nmi i XTWiW>ft^ft%\) n dose, lock, etc. the stable door after
the horse has bolted (BrE) (US close, etc. the barn door
after the horse has e'scaped) to try to prevent or avoid loss or damage when it is
already too late to do so 3,£& T H;
stable-man /'steiblman/ noun (pi. -men /-man/) a person who works in a stable fr H £Kf A; H ft; 3jA stable-mate /'steiblmeit/ noun 1 a horse, especially a racing horse, from
the same stable as another horse [W] —*S,)K( AIhII^ ) 2 (also 'stable companion) a person or product from
the same organization as another person or product |fj#M*jfKiA ( ) ; A!
X; [oj A: the ‘Daily Mirror’ newspaper and its Scottish
stablemate the‘Daily Record’ <4§'H Ifcfll). Jk&tM
stab-ling /'steiblirj/ noun [U] buildings or space where
horses can be kept
stac cato /sta'kaitao; NAmE -tou/
adj. 1 (music If) with each note played separately in order to produce
short, sharp sounds Hfr {ft; ®r # Sff: staccato sounds PHff ^ tffi pm legato 2 with short, sharp sounds A
AJ& 1/t M A h
W; M f£ M ^ W : a peculiar staccato voice O staccato
bursts of gunfire ►stac-cato adv.
stack ./staek/ noun, verb
m noun 1 [C] a pile of sth, usually neatly arranged ( il # mmm aw ) —t, -m-. a stack of books
M B O a
stack hi-fi system (= where radio, CD player, etc. are arranged on top of
each other) —- $ f£ M A A Rr]
— see also haystack 2 [C] ~ (of sth) (informal, especially BrE) a large number or amount
of sth; a lot of sth A M ; A# ; —A-*# : stacks of
money ^ o There’s a stack of unopened mail waiting for you at the house.
% M W — A if fa ^ % HI % „ 0 I’ve got
stacks of work to do. AitMJL^ffto
3 [C] a tall chimney,
especially on a factory ( X la IA ) A ® — see
also CHIMNEY STACK, SMOKESTACK 4 the Stacks [plj the part of a library,
sometimes not open to the public, where books that are not often needed are
stored ( g|
) 4^^
5[C] (computing if) a way of storing information in a computer in which
the most recently stored item is the first to be retrieved (= found or got back) if£$, ffTOl see blow
v.
■
verb 1 ~ (sth) (up) to arrange objects neatly in a pile; to
be arranged in this way ( fjg ) tlillfW S (
If, — it ) : [VN] to stack boxes JEffi tfl&A 0 logs
stacked up against a wall H i|} 53 M A A o [V] Do these chairs
stack? & ® A % If ^ A 4 ? 0 stacking
chairs M ft ® ^ ff A 2 [VN] ~ sth (with sth) to fill sth with piles of things fij&®
( zkf&M. JSfcit ) i&fikfE;
® k it ■ ■ ■ They were busy stacking the
shelves with goods. fMljEftf mm±M%o 3 [V, VN] ~ (sth) (up) if aircraft stack (up) or are stacked
(up) over an airport, there are several flying around waiting for their turn to
land ( ^Alil ) ftMpi31 l#JffRli liHlsIfl .stack 'up 1 to keep increasing in
quantity until there is a large pile, a long line, etc. IRlStjft-Ait ( ) :
Cars quickly stacked up behind the bus. ft A- H # fS
ffi 64 2 ~ (against sb/sth) (used especially in questions or in negatives Affl A
151«] to compare with sb/sth else; to be as good as sb/sth else ( ) ffibb; tbl#± 033 measure
up : Let’s try him in the job
and see how he stacks up.
A mobile home simply doesn’t stack up against a traditional house. ■•fj§bt A ±-#M „
3 (used
especially in negatives A i§a£Ai)
to seem reasonable; to make sense #A pH!; ii; ^Atf if: That can’t be right. It just
doesn’t stack up. IP A b[
mm®,
stacked /staekt/ adj. [not usually before noun] if a
surface is stacked with objects, there are large numbers or piles of them on it
ZMAII---&A .
A ft ) ■■■frl: a table stacked with
glasses flfi T
IT*m the cards/odds are stacked a gainst you you are unlikely to succeed
because the conditions are not good for you A
the cards/odds are
stacked in your favour you are likely to succeed because the
conditions are good and you have an advantage
sta dium /‘steidiam/ noun (pi. sta-diums or -dia /-die/) a large sports ground surrounded
by rows of seats and usually other buildings A Jf ^ ; is ^ ^ : a football/
sports stadium hL / jg zj] 0 an all-seater stadium
Staff
0“w /sta:f; NAmE staef/ noun, verb
m noun 1 [C,
usually sing., U] all the workers employed in an organization considered as a
group A-AIRX ( A® la ) : medical
staff Mft A Ja O (BrE)
teaching staff AfA!fr!W o (BrE) We have 20 part-time members of staff. ^f|]
A 20 0 (NAmE) staff members |RX o
staff development/training w Xf§ #/i§jjl| 0 a staff restaurant/meeting IfMX tf/A^ 0 (especially
BrE) a lawyer on the staff of the Worldwide Fund for Nature fjf