Definitions for: Stay


[n] continuing or remaining in a place or state; "they had a nice stay in Paris"; "a lengthy hospital stay"; "a four-month stay in bankruptcy court"
[n] (nautical) brace consisting of a heavy rope or wire cable used as a support for a mast or spar
[n] a thin strip of metal or bone that is used to stiffen a garment (e.g. a corset)
[n] a judicial order forbidding some action until an event occurs or the order is lifted; "the Supreme Court has the power to stay an injunction pending an appeal to the whole Court"
[n] the state of inactivity following an interruption; "the negotiations were in arrest"; "held them in check"; "during the halt he got some lunch"; "the momentary stay enabled him to escape the blow"; "he spent the entire stop in his seat"
[v] stay the same; remain in a certain state; "The dress remained wet after repeated attempts to dry it"; "rest assured"; "stay alone"; "He remained unmoved by her tears"; "The bad weather continued for another week"
[v] stop or halt; "Please stay the bloodshed!"
[v] overcome or allay; "quell my hunger"
[v] fasten with stays
[v] stay put (in a certain place); "We are staying in Detroit; we are not moving to Cincinnati"; "Stay put in the corner here!"; "Stick around and you will learn something!"
[v] remain behind; "I had to stay at home and watch the children"
[v] stop a judicial process; "The judge stayed the execution order"
[v] a trial of endurance; "ride out the storm"
[v] dwell (archaic); "You can stay with me while you are in town"; "stay a bit longer--the day is still young"
[v] continue in a place, position, or situation; "After graduation, she stayed on in Cambridge as a student adviser"; "Stay with me, please"; "despite student protests, he remained Dean for another year"; "She continued as deputy mayor for another year"
[v] stay behind; "The smell stayed in the room"; "The hostility remained long after they made up"



Webster (1913) Definition: Stay, n. [AS. st[ae]g, akin to D., G., Icel., Sw., & Dan.
stag; cf. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai, of Teutonic origin.] (Naut.)
A large, strong rope, employed to support a mast, by being
extended from the head of one mast down to some other, or to
some part of the vessel. Those which lead forward are called
fore-and-aft stays; those which lead to the vessel's side are
called backstays. See Illust. of Ship.

In stays, or Hove in stays (Naut.), in the act or
situation of staying, or going about from one tack to
another. --R. H. Dana, Jr.

Stay holes (Naut.), openings in the edge of a staysail
through which the hanks pass which join it to the stay.

Stay tackle (Naut.), a tackle attached to a stay and used
for hoisting or lowering heavy articles over the side.

To miss stays (Naut.), to fail in the attempt to go about.
--Totten.

Triatic stay (Naut.), a rope secured at the ends to the
heads of the foremast and mainmast with thimbles spliced
to its bight into which the stay tackles hook.


Stay, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stayedor Staid; p. pr. &
vb. n. Staying.] [OF. estayer, F. ['e]tayer to prop, fr.
OF. estai, F. ['e]tai, a prop, probably fr. OD. stade,
staeye, a prop, akin to E. stead; or cf. stay a rope to
support a mast. Cf. Staid, a., Stay, v. i.]
1. To stop from motion or falling; to prop; to fix firmly; to
hold up; to support.

Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the
one side, and the other on the other side. --Ex.
xvii. 12.

Sallows and reeds . . . for vineyards useful found
To stay thy vines. --Dryden.

2. To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to
satisfy in part or for the time.

He has devoured a whole loaf of bread and butter,
and it has not staid his stomach for a minute. --Sir
W. Scott.

3. To bear up under; to endure; to support; to resist
successfully.

She will not stay the siege of loving terms, Nor
bide the encounter of assailing eyes. --Shak.

4. To hold from proceeding; to withhold; to restrain; to
stop; to hold.

Him backward overthrew and down him stayed With
their rude hands grisly grapplement. --Spenser.

All that may stay their minds from thinking that
true which they heartly wish were false. --Hooker.

5. To hinde?; to delay; to detain; to keep back.

Your ships are stayed at Venice. --Shak.

This business staid me in London almost a week.
--Evelyn.

I was willing to stay my reader on an argument that
appeared to me new. --Locke.

6. To remain for the purpose of; to wait for. ``I stay dinner
there.'' --Shak.

7. To cause to cease; to put an end to.

Stay your strife. --Shak.

For flattering planets seemed to say This child
should ills of ages stay. --Emerson.

8. (Engin.) To fasten or secure with stays; as, to stay a
flat sheet in a steam boiler.

9. (Naut.) To tack, as a vessel, so that the other side of
the vessel shall be presented to the wind.

To stay a mast (Naut.), to incline it forward or aft, or to
one side, by the stays and backstays.


Stay, v. i. [[root]163. See Stay to hold up, prop.]
1. To remain; to continue in a place; to abide fixed for a
space of time; to stop; to stand still.

She would command the hasty sun to stay. --Spenser.

Stay, I command you; stay and hear me first.
--Dryden.

I stay a little longer, as one stays To cover up the
embers that still burn. --Longfellow.

2. To continue in a state.

The flames augment, and stay At their full height,
then languish to decay. --Dryden.

3. To wait; to attend; to forbear to act.

I'll tell thee all my whole device When I am in my
coach, which stays for us. --Shak.

The father can not stay any longer for the fortune.
--Locke.

4. To dwell; to tarry; to linger.

I must stay a little on one action. --Dryden.

5. To rest; to depend; to rely; to stand; to insist.

I stay here on my bond. --Shak.

Ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and
perverseness, and stay thereon. --Isa. xxx.
12.

6. To come to an end; to cease; as, that day the storm
stayed. [Archaic]

Here my commission stays. --Shak.

7. To hold out in a race or other contest; as, a horse stays
well. [Colloq.]

8. (Naut.) To change tack; as a ship.


Stay, n. [Cf. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai support, and E. stay
a rope to support a mast.]
1. That which serves as a prop; a support. ``My only strength
and stay.'' --Milton.

Trees serve as so many stays for their vines.
--Addison.

Lord Liverpool is the single stay of this ministry.
--Coleridge.

2. pl. A corset stiffened with whalebone or other material,
worn by women, and rarely by men.

How the strait stays the slender waist constrain.
--Gay.

3. Continuance in a place; abode for a space of time;
sojourn; as, you make a short stay in this city.

Make haste, and leave thy business and thy care; No
mortal interest can be worth thy stay. --Dryden.

Embrace the hero and his stay implore. --Waller.

4. Cessation of motion or progression; stand; stop.

Made of sphere metal, never to decay Until his
revolution was at stay. --Milton.

Affairs of state seemed rather to stand at a stay.
--Hayward.

5. Hindrance; let; check. [Obs.]

They were able to read good authors without any
stay, if the book were not false. --Robynson
(more's
Utopia).

6. Restraint of passion; moderation; caution; steadiness;
sobriety. [Obs.] ``Not grudging that thy lust hath bounds
and stays.'' --Herbert.

The wisdom, stay, and moderation of the king.
--Bacon.

With prudent stay he long deferred The rough
contention. --Philips.

7. (Engin.) Strictly, a part in tension to hold the parts
together, or stiffen them.

Stay bolt (Mech.), a bolt or short rod, connecting opposite
plates, so as to prevent them from being bulged out when
acted upon by a pressure which tends to force them apart,
as in the leg of a steam boiler.

Stay busk, a stiff piece of wood, steel, or whalebone, for
the front support of a woman's stays. Cf. Busk.

Stay rod, a rod which acts as a stay, particularly in a
steam boiler.

Synonyms: abide, appease, arrest, bide, check, delay, detain, halt, hitch, last out, outride, persist, quell, remain, rest, ride out, stay put, stick, stick around, stop, stoppage

Antonyms: change, depart, move, quit, take leave

See Also: act, backstay, be, be, block, brace, bracing, check, continue, deadlock, decree, edict, fasten, fiat, fill, fix, forestay, fulfil, fulfill, halt, human action, human activity, impasse, inaction, inactiveness, inactivity, keep, kibosh, layover, linger, logjam, meet, order, outstay, overstay, remain, rescript, retard, satisfy, secure, sit tight, slip, sojourn, stalemate, stand, standstill, stay, stay fresh, stay in place, stay of execution, stay on, stay together, stick together, stop, stop, stopover, strip, visit

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