stag

American  

[stag] / stæg /

noun

• stags
  plural

1. an adult male deer.

2. a man who attends a social gathering unaccompanied by a woman.

3. Informal. stag party.

4. a domesticated boar or bull castrated after maturation of the sexual organs.

5. British. a speculator who buys securities of a new issue in the hope of selling them quickly at a higher price.

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verb (used without object)

stagged, stagging

1. Informal. (of a man) to attend a social function without a female companion.

adjective

1. of or for men only.

   a stag dinner.

2. intended for male audiences and usually pornographic in content.

   a stag show.

adverb

1. without a companion or date.

   to go stag to a dance.

stag British  

/ stæɡ /

noun

1. the adult male of a deer, esp a red deer

2. a man unaccompanied by a woman at a social gathering

3. stock exchange

   1. a speculator who applies for shares in a new issue in anticipation of a rise in price when trading commences in order to make a quick profit on resale

   2. ( as modifier )

      stag operations

4. (modifier) (of a social gathering) attended by men only

5. (modifier) pornographic in content

   a stag show

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adverb

1. without a female escort

verb

1. stock exchange to apply for (shares in a new issue) with the intention of selling them for a quick profit when trading commences

stag Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing stag

• go stag

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• staglike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stags
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of stag

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English stagge; akin to Old Norse steggi, steggr “male bird” (giving rise to northern English dialect steg “gander”), Icelandic steggur “male fox, tomcat”

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Explanation

A stag is another word for a buck, or a male deer. If you spot a family of deer in the woods, the stag is the one with the largest antlers. There are different terms for male deer, depending on the species, and stag usually describes the largest types of deer. Stags are also commonly seen in paintings of deer hunts. Another way to use the word stag is as a verb meaning "go without a date," especially to a formal party or dance. In the mid-1800's, a "stag party" was a group made up only of men, a term that came to mean a bachelor party.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stag stags stagged stagging

"What never sat well with me was that my brother was not with a group of lads on a stag do," he said.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Featuring a 12-point stag on a Scottish Highland peak, it was commissioned by railway magnate Edward Betts and has passed through various private collections.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

"The stag part of the stagflation is already being felt in terms of restaurants closing down and households having less natural gas," Subramanian said.

From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026

"He was a lovely stag with a beautiful pair of antlers and was a big favourite with the public who walk through the park."

From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2025

Then she saw the dogs again and they were racing after the stag, his brown flanks flashing between the trunks.

From "Ash" by Malinda Lo

On the positive side, Fitbit stags who bought into the IPO but sold soon after the stock went public made fast profits of up to 150%.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

Most of our pets don’t pull carts, hunt stags, herd sheep or detect drugs, where we need to ensure correct performance.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 27, 2023

“She gave an example to other women. And she did big paintings ‌‌— of horses, stags, lions — not small flowers, in pastels. That is feminist.”

From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2022

Stags with big antlers score more often than stags with small ones.

From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2022

Elegant white stags roamed the streets like citizens, and reptiles big as men drifted in the river.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Well; we coom back through t' teawn; an' we were both on us fair stagged up.

From Home-Life of the Lancashire Factory Folk during the Cotton Famine by Edwin Waugh

He is stagged; there is a game playing, but what I know not.

From Count Alarcos; a Tragedy by Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield

A number of loggers were present, dressed in the invariable mackinaw, stagged overalls and caulked shoes.

From The Centralia Conspiracy by Ralph Chaplin

"Why I mean, my lord, I stagged him."

From The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun; containing a collection of over one thousand of the most laughable sayings and jokes of celebrated wits and humorists. by Various

He clambered laboriously from the shallows, the water draining from the bottom of his "stagged" trousers.

From The Rules of the Game by Stewart Edward White

Ltd. $20,000,000, and there was said to be "hardly any stagging."

From Time Magazine Archive

But too many of the cadets were "stagging it" that night.

From Dick Prescott's Second Year at West Point Finding the Glory of the Soldier's Life by H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock

"I should cut the concern," said Watson, "and take to stagging in Surrey."

From Marion Fay by Anthony Trollope

The cove was touting, but stagging the traps he toddled; be was looking out, and feeing the officers he walked away.

From 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose

So you've been stagging this gentleman and me, and listening, have you?

From Recollections of Geoffrey Hamlyn by Henry Kingsley

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