To cease to flow; to be motionless; as, blood stagnates in the veins of an animal; hence, to become impure or foul by want of motion; as, air stagnates in a close room.
To cease to be brisk or active; to become dull or inactive; as, commerce stagnates; business stagnates. Ready-witted tenderness . . . never stagnates in vain lamentations while there is any room for hope. Sir W. Scott.
Stagnant. [Obs.] "A stagnate mass of vapors." Young.
98,828 entries. Headwords are matched first, then definition text.