An Engine Stall and a Market Stall Share a Root
A stall is a compartment or a sales stand. The verb meaning to stop and to delay comes from the same idea of standing still.
A stall is a compartment for an animal, a stand where goods are sold, or a theatre seat, and to stall is to stop or to delay. Everything traces to a Germanic root meaning a standing place. An engine stalls when it stops turning, and an aircraft stalls when the wing stops generating lift — that second one is a common misunderstanding, since an aerodynamic stall has nothing to do with the engine and can happen at any speed. To *stall for time* is a nineteenth-century extension.
- An animal compartment. *A horse stall.*
- A market stand. *A fruit stall.*
- To stop running. *The engine stalled.*
- To delay. *Stalling for time.*
- Old English — *steall*, a standing place. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | stall | A stall. |
| Plural | stalls | Stalls. |
| Verb | stall | Stall it. |
| Past | stalled | Stalled. |
| Old English | steall | A standing place. |
- He runs a stall at the market.Sales.
- The engine stalled at the lights.Mechanical.
- She was stalling for time.Delay.
Two different stalls in flight
- Engine stall — the engine stops producing power
- Aerodynamic stall — the wing stops producing lift
- The second happens when the angle of attack gets too steep
- It can occur at any airspeed, including high speed in a turn
- Recovery means lowering the nose, not adding power alone
Old English *steall*, a standing place or stable, of Germanic origin, related to *stand*.
Does an aircraft stall mean the engine stopped?
No. An aerodynamic stall means the wing has stopped generating lift because the angle of attack is too steep. The engine may be running normally.
Why are theatre seats called stalls?
From the older sense of an individual enclosed seat, as in the choir stalls of a cathedral.