stair

[stair] /stɛər/
noun
1.
one of a flight or series of steps for going from one level to another, as in a building.
2.
stairs, such steps collectively, especially as forming a flight or a series of flights:
I was so excited I ran all the way up the stairs.
3.
a series or flight of steps; stairway:
a winding stair.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English stey(e)r, Old English stǣger; cognate with Dutch, Low German steiger landing; akin to sty1
Related forms
stairless, adjective
stairlike, adjective
Examples from the web for stairs
  • To cover this distance by foot, walk to the outdoor stairway at the edge of the tunnel and climb the stairs.
  • Ellen came hurrying down the stairs, her avoidable haste acting in its normal way upon her husband.
  • Squares and rectangles appear throughout the garden and shape three multilevel backyard patios connected by wide stairs.
  • It has four floors, with many stairs in between thanks to the high ceilings.
  • When he could not get out for his walks he advocated walking up and down stairs.
  • The raisers learn how to teach their charges to climb stairs, come when called and to neither bark nor beg.
  • He led us up some stairs to a small room that seemed to glow with light.
  • Putting the stairs internally makes them impossible to use in the presence of flames and smoke.
  • The dog runs ahead up the stairs to first floor and stops at the door to the right.
  • The company also claims the suit is agile enough to play soccer and climb stairs and ramps.
British Dictionary definitions for stairs

stairs

/stɛəz/
plural noun
1.
a flight of steps leading from one storey or level to another, esp indoors
2.
(Brit) below stairs, in the servants' quarters; in domestic service

stair

/stɛə/
noun
1.
one of a flight of stairs
2.
a series of steps: a narrow stair
See also stairs
Word Origin
Old English stæger; related to stīg narrow path, stīgan to ascend, descend, Old Norse steigurligr upright, Middle Dutch steiger ladder
Word Origin and History for stairs

stair

n.

Old English stæger "flight of steps," also "a single step," from Proto-Germanic *staigri (cf. Old Norse and Old Frisian stiga, Middle Dutch stighen, Old High German stigan, German steigen, Gothic steigan "to go up, ascend;" Old English stigan "to climb, go;" German Steig "path," Old English stig "narrow path"), from PIE *steigh- "go, rise, stride, step, walk" (cf. Greek steikhein "to go, march in order," stikhos "row, line, rank, verse;" Sanskrit stighnoti "mounts, rises, steps;" Old Church Slavonic stignati "to overtake," stigna "place;" Lithuanian staiga "suddenly;" Old Irish tiagaim "I walk;" Welsh taith "going, walk, way").

Originally also a collective plural; stairs developed by late 14c. OED says stair still is ordinary in Scotland where flight of stairs would be used elsewhere.

Slang definitions & phrases for stairs

stairs

Related Terms

upstairs, the man upstairs