stile
stile Lexical Profile
stile Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An arrangement of steps, rungs, or bars that allows people to climb over or pass through a fence or wall while preventing livestock from passing.
"The hikers climbed over the wooden stile to continue along the public footpath across the pasture."
A vertical outer piece in the frame of a paneled door, window sash, or wainscoting, into which the horizontal rails are fitted.
"The carpenter sanded the vertical stiles and horizontal rails of the cabinet door until the joints were completely flush."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse "stile" with its homophone "style" (a manner, design, or fashion).
• Rhymes for stile
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
The sense of a set of steps over a fence derives from Old English "stigel," related to the verb "stigan" (to climb). The carpentry sense describing a vertical frame member entered English in the 16th century, likely from Middle Dutch "stijl" (post or pillar), ultimately from Latin "stilus" (stake).