shadow vs stalk

shadow

noun
  • One who secretly or furtively follows another. 

  • A dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object. 

  • A small degree; a shade. 

  • An influence, especially a pervasive or a negative one. 

  • Relative darkness, especially as caused by the interruption of light; gloom; obscurity. 

  • That which looms as though a shadow. 

  • A area protected by an obstacle (likened to an object blocking out sunlight). 

  • An inseparable companion. 

  • A drop shadow effect applied to lettering in word processors etc. 

  • A spirit; a ghost; a shade. 

  • An unconscious aspect of the personality. 

  • A trainee, assigned to work with an experienced officer. 

  • An imperfect and faint representation. 

adj
  • Unofficial, informal, unauthorized, but acting as though it were. 

  • Having power or influence, but not widely known or recognized. 

  • Part of, or related to, the opposition in government. 

  • Acting in a leadership role before being formally recognized. 

verb
  • To accompany (a professional) during the working day, so as to learn about an occupation one intends to take up. 

  • To make (an identifier, usually a variable) inaccessible by declaring another of the same name within the scope of the first. 

  • To hide; to conceal. 

  • To represent faintly and imperfectly. 

  • To shade, cloud, or darken. 

  • To block light or radio transmission from. 

  • To secretly or discreetly track or follow another, to keep under surveillance. 

  • To apply the shadowing process to (the contents of ROM). 

stalk

noun
  • A particular episode of trying to follow or contact someone. 

  • The stem or main axis of a plant, which supports the seed-carrying parts. 

  • An iron bar with projections inserted in a core to strengthen it; a core arbor. 

  • The petiole, pedicel, or peduncle of a plant. 

  • One of the two upright pieces of a ladder. 

  • A stem or peduncle, as in certain barnacles and crinoids. 

  • The narrow basal portion of the abdomen of a hymenopterous insect. 

  • The peduncle of the eyes of decapod crustaceans. 

  • The hunting of a wild animal by stealthy approach. 

  • An ornament in the Corinthian capital resembling the stalk of a plant, from which the volutes and helices spring. 

  • Something resembling the stalk of a plant, such as the stem of a quill. 

  • A haughty style of walking. 

verb
  • To (try to) follow or contact someone constantly, often resulting in harassment.ᵂᵖ 

  • To walk haughtily. 

  • To walk behind something, such as a screen, for the purpose of approaching game; to proceed under cover. 

  • To walk slowly and cautiously; to walk in a stealthy, noiseless manner. 

  • To approach slowly and quietly in order not to be discovered when getting closer. 

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