Part 715

In this region of chance, . . . where nothing is stable.

Rogers.

2. Steady in purpose; constant; firm in resolution; not easily diverted from a purpose; not fickle or wavering; as, a man of stable character.

And to her husband ever meek and stable.

Chaucer.

3. Durable; not subject to overthrow or change; firm; as, a stable foundation; a stable position.

Stable equibrium (Mech.), the kind of equilibrium of a body so placed that if disturbed it returns to its former position, as in the case when the center of gravity is below the point or axis of support; -- opposed to unstable equilibrium, in which the body if disturbed does not tend to return to its former position, but to move farther away from it, as in the case of a body supported at a point below the center of gravity. Cf. Neutral equilibrium, under Neutral.

Syn. -- Fixed; steady; constant; abiding; strong; durable; firm.

Sta"ble, v. t. To fix; to establish. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Sta"ble, n. [OF. estable, F. étable, from L. stabulum, fr. stare to stand. See Stand, v. i.] A house, shed, or building, for beasts to lodge and feed in; esp., a building or apartment with stalls, for horses; as, a horse stable; a cow stable. Milton.

Stable fly (Zoöl.), a common dipterous fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) which is abundant about stables and often enters dwellings, especially in autumn. These files, unlike the common house files, which they resemble, bite severely, and are troublesome to horses and cattle.

Sta"ble, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stabled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Stabling (?).] To put or keep in a stable.

Sta"ble, v. i. To dwell or lodge in a stable; to dwell in an inclosed place; to kennel. Milton.

{ Sta"ble*boy` (?), Sta"ble*man (?) }, n. A boy or man who attends in a stable; a groom; a hostler.

Sta"ble*ness, n. The quality or state of being stable, or firmly established; stability.

Sta"bler (?), n. A stable keeper. De Foe.

Sta"ble stand` (?). (O.Eng. Law) The position of a man who is found at his standing in the forest, with a crossbow or a longbow bent, ready to shoot at a deer, or close by a tree with greyhounds in a leash ready to slip; -- one of the four presumptions that a man intends stealing the king's deer. Wharton.

Sta"bling (?), n. 1. The act or practice of keeping horses and cattle in a stable.

2. A building, shed, or room for horses and cattle.

Stab"lish (?), v. t. [Aphetic form of establish.] To settle permanently in a state; to make firm; to establish; to fix. [Obs.] 2 Sam. vii. 13.

Stab"lish*ment (?), n. Establishment. [Obs.]

Sta"bly (?), adv. In a stable manner; firmly; fixedly; steadily; as, a government stably settled.

Stab`u*la"tion (?), n. [L. stabulatio, fr. stabulari to stable cattle, fr. stabulum. See Stable, n.] 1. The act of stabling or housing beasts.

2. A place for lodging beasts; a stable. [Obs.]

||Stac*ca"to (?), a. [It., p. p. of staccere, equivalent to distaccare. ||See Detach.] 1. (Mus.) Disconnected; separated; distinct; -- a ||direction to perform the notes of a passage in a short, distinct, and ||pointed manner. It is opposed to legato, and often indicated by heavy ||accents written over or under the notes, or by dots when the ||performance is to be less distinct and emphatic.

2. Expressed in a brief, pointed manner.

Staccato and peremptory [literary criticism].

G. Eliot.