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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stable fly (Zool.), a common dipterous fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) which is abundant about stables and often enters dwellings, especially in autumn; called also biting house fly. These flies, unlike the common house flies, which they resemble, bite severely, and are troublesome to horses and cattle. They differ from the larger horse fly. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To dwell or lodge in a stable; to dwell in an inclosed place; to kennel. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Stabled p. pr. & vb. n. Stabling ] To put or keep in a stable. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OF. estable, F. stable, fr. L. stabilis, fr. stare to stand. See Stand, v. i. and cf. Establish. ] 1. Firmly established; not easily moved, shaken, or overthrown; fixed; as, a stable government. [ 1913 Webster ]

In this region of chance, . . . where nothing is stable. Rogers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Steady in purpose; constant; firm in resolution; not easily diverted from a purpose; not fickle or wavering; as, a man of stable character. [ 1913 Webster ]

And to her husband ever meek and stable. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Durable; not subject to overthrow or change; firm; as, a stable foundation; a stable position. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Physics) So placed as to resist forces tending to cause motion; of such structure as to resist distortion or molecular or chemical disturbance; -- said of any body or substance. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Stable equilibrium (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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Fixed; steady; constant; abiding; strong; durable; firm. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To fix; to establish. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. A boy or man who attends in a stable; a groom; a hostler. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being stable, or firmly established; stability. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A stable keeper. De Foe. [ 1913 Webster ]

(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. [ 1913 Webster ]