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stalk

UK /stɔːk/noun, verb

stalk is spelled S-T-A-L-K: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “stalk vs stock” about 90 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, stalk means “The stem or main axis of a plant” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of stalk is stalks.

How many letters and syllables are in stalk?

Letters5: S-T-A-L-K
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.9 times per million words; the 15,798th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is stalk?

Stalk appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce stalk?

  • UK /stɔːk/
  • British /stoːk/
  • /stɔk/

Stalk has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ne-stalk.ogg, En-us-stalk.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with stalk

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

stalk vs stock90 G

Sounds like: stork (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with stalk?

4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as stalk from its last stressed vowel (/ɔk/, British pronunciation):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of stalk

  • stalks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • stalking participle, present
  • stalked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does stalk mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The stem or main axis of a plant.

    a stalk of wheat, rye, or oats;  the stalks of maize or hemp

  2. 2

    The petiole, pedicel, or peduncle of a plant.

    grape stalks

  3. 3

    Something resembling the stalk of a plant, such as the stem of a quill.

  4. 4

    An ornament in the Corinthian capital resembling the stalk of a plant, from which the volutes and helices spring.

  5. 5

    One of the two upright pieces of a ladder.

  6. 6

    A stem or peduncle, as in certain barnacles and crinoids.

  7. 7

    The narrow basal portion of the abdomen of a hymenopterous insect.

  8. 8

    The peduncle of the eyes of decapod crustaceans.

  9. 9

    A particular episode of trying to follow or contact someone.

  10. 10

    The hunting of a wild animal by stealthy approach.

  11. 11

    A haughty style of walking.

verb

  1. 1

    To approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer.

  2. 2

    To (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment.ᵂᵖ

    My ex-girlfriend is stalking me.

  3. 3

    To walk slowly and cautiously; to walk in a stealthy, noiseless manner.

  4. 4

    To walk behind something, such as a screen, for the purpose of approaching game; to proceed under cover.

  5. 5

    Of a person's social media activity: to look through thoroughly or obsessively; to keep tabs on, generally avoiding contact.

    Coordinate term: lurk

  6. 6

    To walk haughtily.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Stalk in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtige (stem or main axis of a plant), traquer (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to…), harceler (to (try to) follow or contact someone…)
GermanStrunk, Stiel, Stängel (stem or main axis of a plant), sich anpirschen, sich anschleichen (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to…), Holm (one of the two upright pieces of a ladder)
Portuguesetalo, haste (stem or main axis of a plant), tocaiar (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to…), perseguir, stalkear (to (try to) follow or contact someone…)
Spanishtallo (stem or main axis of a plant), acechar, aguaitar (to approach slowly and quietly in order not to…), acosar (to (try to) follow or contact someone…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does stalk come from?

From Middle English stalke, stelke, stalk, perhaps from Old English *stealc, *stielc, *stealuc, from Proto-West Germanic *staluk, *stalik, from Proto-Germanic *stalukaz, *stalikaz, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *stalô, *staluz (“support, stem, stalk”), from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to place, stand; be stiff; stud, post, trunk, stake, stem, stalk”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after stalk