stay1

[stey] /steɪ/
verb (used without object), stayed or staid, staying.
1.
to spend some time in a place, in a situation, with a person or group, etc.:
He stayed in the army for ten years.
2.
to continue to be as specified, as to condition or state:
to stay clean.
3.
to hold out or endure, as in a contest or task (followed by with or at):
Please stay with the project as long as you can.
4.
to keep up, as with a competitor (followed by with).
5.
Poker. to continue in a hand by matching an ante, bet, or raise.
6.
to stop or halt.
7.
to pause or wait, as for a moment, before proceeding or continuing; linger or tarry.
8.
Archaic. to cease or desist.
9.
Archaic. to stand firm.
verb (used with object), stayed or staid, staying.
10.
to stop or halt.
11.
to hold back, detain, or restrain, as from going further.
12.
to suspend or delay (actions, proceedings, etc.).
13.
to appease or satisfy temporarily the cravings of (the stomach, appetite, etc.).
14.
to remain through or during (a period of time):
We stayed two days in San Francisco.
15.
to remain to the end of; remain beyond (usually followed by out).
16.
Archaic. to await.
noun
17.
the act of stopping or being stopped.
18.
a stop, halt, or pause; a standstill.
19.
a sojourn or temporary residence:
a week's stay in Miami.
20.
Law. a stoppage or arrest of action; suspension of a judicial proceeding:
The governor granted a stay of execution.
21.
Informal. staying power; endurance.
Idioms
22.
stay the course, to persevere; endure to completion.
Origin
1400-50; late Middle English staien < Anglo-French estaier, Old French estai-, stem of ester < Latin stāre to stand

stay2

[stey] /steɪ/
noun
1.
something used to support or steady a thing; prop; brace.
2.
a flat strip of steel, plastic, etc., used especially for stiffening corsets, collars, etc.
3.
a long rod running between opposite walls, heads or sides of a furnace, boiler, tank, or the like, to strengthen them against internal pressures.
4.
stays, Chiefly British. a corset.
verb (used with object), stayed, staying.
5.
to support, prop, or hold up (sometimes followed by up).
6.
to sustain or strengthen mentally or spiritually.
7.
to rest on (something, as a foundation or base) for support.
8.
to cause something to become fixed or to rest on (a support, foundation, base, etc.)
Origin
1505-15; apparently same as stay3 (compare Old French estayer to hold in place, support, perhaps derivative of Middle English steye stay3)

stay3

[stey] /steɪ/
noun
1.
any of various strong ropes or wires for steadying masts, funnels, etc.
verb (used with object), stayed, staying.
2.
to support or secure with a stay or stays:
to stay a mast.
3.
to put (a ship) on the other tack.
verb (used without object), stayed, staying.
4.
(of a ship) to change to the other tack.
Idioms
5.
in stays, (of a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel) heading into the wind with sails shaking, as in coming about.
Origin
before 1150; Middle English stey(e), Old English stæg; cognate with German Stag
Examples from the web for stays
  • But for each, the color stays the same from day to day, and year to year.
  • They learn a sense of self-confidence and self-motivation, and it stays with them into their adult lives.
  • There's someone who does our park checks and there's someone who stays behind and does the clinical work.
  • It can help to remember that the driver always stays close to the center line.
  • The bog water, is sharp contrast, stays an acidic brown.
  • He finds somewhere else to be, or he stays inside his house, with its many framed prints of trim little ships atop frisky seas.
  • Web staff get everything online and make sure it stays there.
  • Hath done us too much good, whose kindness ever stays.
  • If he stays at school after this he goes into the ex-ex-seventh.
  • We see activity pictured that normally stays well hidden from the human eye.
British Dictionary definitions for stays

stays

/steɪz/
plural noun
1.
(rare) corsets with bones in them
2.
a position of a sailing vessel relative to the wind so that the sails are luffing or aback Compare irons (sense 2)
3.
miss stays, refuse stays, (of a sailing vessel) to fail to come about

stay1

/steɪ/
verb
1.
(intransitive) to continue or remain in a certain place, position, etc: to stay outside
2.
(copula) to continue to be; remain: to stay awake
3.
(intransitive) often foll by at. to reside temporarily, esp as a guest: to stay at a hotel
4.
(transitive) to remain for a specified period: to stay the weekend
5.
(intransitive) (Scot & South African) to reside permanently or habitually; live
6.
(archaic) to stop or cause to stop
7.
(intransitive) to wait, pause, or tarry
8.
(transitive) to delay or hinder
9.
(transitive)
  1. to discontinue or suspend (a judicial proceeding)
  2. to hold in abeyance or restrain from enforcing (an order, decree, etc)
10.
to endure (something testing or difficult, such as a race): a horse that stays the course
11.
(intransitive) ; usually foll by with. to keep pace (with a competitor in a race, etc)
12.
(intransitive) (poker) to raise one's stakes enough to stay in a round
13.
(transitive) to hold back or restrain: to stay one's anger
14.
(transitive) to satisfy or appease (an appetite, etc) temporarily
15.
(transitive) (archaic) to quell or suppress
16.
(intransitive) (archaic) to stand firm
17.
stay put, See put (sense 18)
noun
18.
the act of staying or sojourning in a place or the period during which one stays
19.
the act of stopping or restraining or state of being stopped, etc
20.
the suspension of a judicial proceeding, etc: stay of execution
See also stay out
Word Origin
C15 staien, from Anglo-French estaier, to stay, from Old French ester to stay, from Latin stāre to stand

stay2

/steɪ/
noun
1.
anything that supports or steadies, such as a prop or buttress
2.
a thin strip of metal, plastic, bone, etc, used to stiffen corsets, etc
verb (transitive) (archaic)
3.
(often foll by up) to prop or hold
4.
(often foll by up) to comfort or sustain
5.
foll by on or upon. to cause to rely or depend
See also stays (sense 1)
Word Origin
C16: from Old French estaye, of Germanic origin; compare stay³

stay3

/steɪ/
noun
1.
a rope, cable, or chain, usually one of a set, used for bracing uprights, such as masts, funnels, flagpoles, chimneys, etc; guy See also stays (sense 2), stays (sense 3)
Word Origin
Old English stæg; related to Old Norse stag, Middle Low German stach, Norwegian stagle wooden post
Word Origin and History for stays

stay

v.

"to remain," mid-15c., from Middle French estai-, stem of ester "to stay or stand," from Old French, from Latin stare "to stand" (cf. Italian stare, Spanish estar "to stand, to be"), from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Originally "come to a halt;" sense of "remain" is first recorded 1570s.

Noun senses of "appliance for stopping," "period of remaining in a place," and (judicial) "suspension of proceeding" all developed 1525-1550. Stay-at-home (adj.) is from 1806. Stay put is first recorded 1843, American English. "To stay put is to keep still, remain in order. A vulgar expression" [Bartlett]. Phrase stay the course is originally (1885) in reference to horses holding out till the end of a race.

n.

"support, prop, brace," 1510s, from Middle French estaie "piece of wood used as a support," perhaps from Frankish *staka "support," from Proto-Germanic *stagaz (cf. Middle Dutch stake "stick," Old English steli "steel" stæg "rope used to support a mast"), from PIE *stak- (see stay (n.2)). If not, then from the root of stay (v.). Stays "laced underbodice" is attested from c.1600.

"strong rope which supports a ship's mast," from Old English stæg, from Proto-Germanic *stagan (cf. Dutch stag, Low German stach, German Stag, Old Norse stag), from PIE *stak-, ultimately an extended form of root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). The verb meaning "secure or steady with stays" is first recorded 1620s.

Slang definitions & phrases for stays

stay

verb

To maintain a penile erection (1960s+)


Idioms and Phrases with stays

stay

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