boilerplate vs stale

boilerplate

noun
  • A sheet of copper or steel used in the construction of a boiler. 

  • Syndicated material. 

  • The rating plate or nameplate required to be affixed to a boiler by the Boiler Explosions Act (1882). 

  • Standard text or program code used routinely and added with a text editor or word processor; text of a legal or official nature added to documents or labels. 

  • Hard, icy snow which may be dangerous to ski on. 

  • Formulaic or hackneyed language. 

  • A plate attached to industrial machinery, identifying information such as manufacturer, model number, serial number, and power requirements. 

verb
  • To store (standard text) so that it can easily be retrieved for reuse. 

adj
  • Describing text or other material of a standard or routine nature. 

  • Used to refer to a non-functional spacecraft used to test configuration and procedures. 

stale

noun
  • The shaft of an arrow, spear, etc. 

  • A stalemate; a stalemated game. 

  • One of the rungs on a ladder. 

  • Something stale; a loaf of bread or the like that is no longer fresh. 

  • A long, thin handle (of rakes, axes, etc.) 

  • One of the posts or uprights of a ladder. 

verb
  • To make stale; to cause to go out of fashion or currency; to diminish the novelty or interest of, particularly by excessive exposure or consumption. 

  • To become stale; to grow odious from excessive exposure or consumption. 

  • To stalemate. 

  • To become stale; to grow unpleasant from age. 

adj
  • Out of date, unpaid for an unreasonable amount of time, particularly in reference to checks. 

  • Of data: out of date; not synchronized with the newest copy. 

  • No longer fresh, in reference to food, urine, straw, wounds, etc. 

  • Unreasonably long in coming, in reference to claims and actions. 

  • No longer fresh, new, or interesting, in reference to ideas and immaterial things; cliche, hackneyed, dated. 

  • Worn out, particularly due to age or over-exertion, in reference to athletes and animals in competition. 

  • Not new or recent; having been in place or in effect for some time. 

How often have the words boilerplate and stale occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )