# stook

> English word · Noun · IPA /stʊk/

## Definitions
1. A pile or bundle, especially of straw.
2. A group of six or eight sheaves of grain stacked to dry vertically in a rectangular arrangement at harvest time, largely obsolete since the advent of combine harvesters and powered grain driers (mid 20th century).
3. A handkerchief.

## Etymology
From Middle English stowk, stouke, stouc, from or cognate with Middle Low German stûke (“bundle of grain”), from Middle Low German stûken (“to push, bump, compress”), from Old Saxon *stūkan, from Proto-Germanic *stūkaną (“to be stiff, push”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewg- (“to pound, push, beat”).
Cognate with West Frisian stûkje (“to pile up, stop”), Dutch stuiken (“to bundle, stamp”), German stauchen (“to compress”), Swedish stuka (“to rick, wrench, upset”), Norwegian Nynorsk stauka (“to whack, chop”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/stook