What does "stable" mean?
A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses.
Stable
/ˈsteɪ.bəl/ adj, noun, verb, slang
adj, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses.
- Grammar: stable is listed as adj, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: horse barn, abiding, accordant, accountable.
- Useful contrasts: instable, mobile, unstable.
- Usage evidence: The government of that country is now stable.
How to use "stable"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "stable" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "stable" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "stable" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "stable" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "stable" is acting as adj, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "horse barn" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "stable", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses.
"There were stalls for fourteen horses in the squire's stables."
- 2 a farm building for housing horses or other livestock wordnet
- 3 All the racehorses of a particular stable, i.e. belonging to a given owner. metonymically
- 4 A set of advocates; a barristers' chambers. Scotland
- 5 An organization of sumo wrestlers who live and train together.
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 A group of wrestlers who support each other within a wrestling storyline.
"Paul, who signed with WWE in late June, appeared in a segment with Reigns' stable, the Bloodline, on Friday's episode of SmackDown after making comments earlier in the week regarding a potential match with the Tribal Chief."
- 7 A group of prostitutes managed by one pimp. slang
"My pimp vision enabled me to see that no hoe in my stable would be more worthy of the game than my young turnout red-bones."
- 8 A group of people who are looked after, mentored, or trained in one place or for a particular purpose or profession.
- 9 A coherent or consistent set of things (typically abstract) available or presented; array.
"This Article argues that to date, the Supreme Court has drawn from a narrow stable of arguments to create a fairly standard, yet coarse, analysis to consider when to apply proximate cause to statutes."
Verb
- 1 To put or keep (an animal) in a stable. transitive
"It is not difficult for the wealthy brewer or pluralist publican, while he takes his ease in his comfortable dwelling on the Lord’s Day, or rolls in his chariot to the house of prayer, to denounce the agitation in favour of Sunday-closing, while his weary barmen and barmaidens “work from early morn to midnight” to carpet his ample halls and stable his well-fed horses."
- 2 shelter in a stable wordnet
- 3 To dwell in a stable. intransitive
- 4 To park (a rail vehicle). transitive
"S.R. Pacific No. 34010 Sidmouth leaves Wembley Central to stable the stock of its excursion from the S.R. at North Wembley; the train was run in connection with a Wembley football event on April 30, 1960."
Adjective
- 1 Relatively unchanging, steady, permanent; firmly fixed or established; consistent; not easily moved, altered, or destroyed.
"He was in a stable relationship."
- 2 Of software: established to be relatively free of bugs, as opposed to a beta version.
"You should download the 1.9 version of that video editing software: it is the latest stable version. The newer beta version has some bugs."
- 3 That maintains the relative order of items that compare as equal.
- 4 Eventually satisfying the identity IM_n=M_n+1.
Adjective
- 1 showing little if any change wordnet
- 2 maintaining equilibrium wordnet
- 3 not taking part readily in chemical change wordnet
- 4 firm and dependable; subject to little fluctuation wordnet
- 5 resistant to change of position or condition wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The government of that country is now stable."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "stable"?
Common synonyms include: horse barn, abiding, accordant, accountable, adamantine, age group.
How do you use "stable" in a sentence?
The government of that country is now stable.
How do you pronounce "stable"?
Pronounced /ˈsteɪ.bəl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English stable, borrowed from Anglo-Norman stable, from Latin stab(u)lum.
Etymology 2
From Middle English stable, from Anglo-Norman stable, stabel, from Latin stabilis (“firm, steadfast”) (itself from stare (“stand”) + -abilis (“able”)). Displaced native Old English staþolfæst.