stalk2

 
Pronunciation: /stɔːk/

verb

  • 1 [with object] pursue or approach stealthily: a cat stalking a bird
  • harass or persecute (someone) with unwanted and obsessive attention: for five years she was stalked by a man who would taunt and threaten her
  • chiefly literary move silently or threateningly through (a place): the tiger stalks the jungle figurative fear stalked the camp
  • 2 [no object, with adverbial of direction] stride somewhere in a proud, stiff, or angry manner: without another word she turned and stalked out

noun

  • 1a stealthy pursuit of someone or something: this time the stalk would be on foot
  • 2a stiff, striding gait.

Derivatives

stalker

noun

Origin:

late Old English -stealcian (in bistealcian 'walk cautiously or stealthily'), of Germanic origin; related to steal