stall

カモメのジョナサンが一人で飛行の練習をしている個所から引用します。
The curve meant that he would fly slowly, and now he slowed until the wind was a whisper in his face, until the ocean stood still beneath him. He narrowed his eyes in fierce concentration, held his breath, forced one... single... more... inch... of... curve... Then his feathers ruffled, he stalled and fell.
Seagulls, as you know, never falter, never stall. To stall in the air is for them disgrace and it is dishonor.
But Jonathan Livingston Seagull, unashamed, stretching his wings again in that trembling hard curve - slowing, slowing, and stalling once more - was no ordinary bird.
"stall" が何度も出てきますが、私は名詞の "stall" の意味の内、家畜小屋内の仕切られた区画とか屋台などの様な意味しか知りませんで、そこから上の文の動詞としての "stall" の意味は連想できません。　早速辞書を見ます。
・American Heritage Dictionary: To lose forward flying speed, causing a stall. Used of an aircraft.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
1. to come to a standstill (as from mired wheels or engine failure)
2. to experience a stall in flying
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: If an engine stalls, or if you stall it, it stops working suddenly and without you intending it to happen.; A car may stall due to the driver braking too suddenly.; I stalled the car twice during my driving test but still managed to pass.
辞書では鳥での例は見つかりませんでしたが、車や飛行機のエンジンが止まり、当然走行が急に減速し、ついには止まることになるので、カモメなら失速し、その状態が続けば落下してしまう事になります。　ここでやっと気が付きました。　日本語でもエンストと言いますが、これは "engine stop" の事か "engine stall" から来たのか疑問がわきました。　今日は時間が無いので後で調べましょう。

"Jonathan Livingston Seagull" は本自体も薄く、カモメの写真のページも途中に沢山あったので直ぐに読み終わりましたので、この本から取り上げる単語はこれで終わりです。