staging
Americannoun
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the act, process, or manner of presenting a play on the stage.
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a temporary platform or structure of posts and boards for support, as in building; scaffolding.
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Rocketry. the in-flight separation of a rocket stage from the remaining stages of a multistage missile or launch vehicle.
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the business of running stagecoaches.
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the act of traveling by stages or by stagecoach.
noun
Etymology
Origin of staging
Explanation
Staging is a set of raised platforms used in a theatrical production. Construction workers also use staging to support them as they repair the outside of a building. In plays and film the word staging can be used for the scaffolding that physically supports scenery and actors — and also for the process of presenting a work theatrically. This kind of staging involves modifying and designing a space, preparing it for a play. Preparing a house in order to sell it is also a kind of staging. If you're an astronomer, you probably use this noun to mean employing many engines, in separate stages, to launch a rocket.
Vocabulary lists containing staging
Reading: Literature - Drama - Introductory
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Theater - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Drama - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A four-part ‘Lord of the Flies’ buzzes onto Netflix, ‘Othello’ gets a pared-down, four-actor staging, the Venice Biennale lures art lovers to La Serenissima, and more.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026
The sampling of funk and glam rock classics momentarily distracts us from the nonsensical staging choices and hopped-up gags, but only for so long.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026
Ultimately any staging of a Wilson play rises or falls on the quality of the ensemble, the ability of the performers to unearth all the immense riches in the dialogue and the characters.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026
Former Fed chair Ben Bernanke first started holding press conferences after some of these meetings in 2011, staging them four times a year.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 25, 2026
"Pitch and roll complete, twenty-two seconds till staging."
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
