staddle

[prettygoodword]

staddle (STAD-l) - n., a supporting base, esp. for a stack of hay or straw, such as a platform.


But not only a haystack:


Thanks, Anguskirk!

I kinda love this word, the way it looks like a misspelling of straddle. Its Middle English form was stathel, from Old English stathol, base/support/tree-trunk, ultimately from PIE root stā-, stand, which also gave us stand, steed, stool, stem, stud, and steady.

---L.