A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1583-1650
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Stale, Steal(l, n.3 [Late ME and e.m.E. stale (Prompt. Parv.).] A decoy; also, attrib. with Guse n.1 — 1583 Cal. Sc. P. VI 318.
[An Englishman … we used as a] stale [to entrap to other] c1650 P. Gordon Brit. Dist. 186.
Thus to become a steal to intrap his frinds —attrib. c1610 Melville Mem. 218.
Intending … to mak the said secretair a steall guse to draw down Grange out of the castell
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"Stale n.3". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/stale_n_3>
