stair

[stair]

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.

stair

/ stɛə /

noun

1. one of a flight of stairs

2. a series of steps

   a narrow stair

Other Word Forms

• stairless adjective
• stairlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stair¹

before 1000; Middle English stey ( e ) r, Old English stǣger; cognate with Dutch, Low German steiger landing; akin to sty ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of stair¹

Old English stæger ; related to stīg narrow path, stīgan to ascend, descend, Old Norse steigurligr upright, Middle Dutch steiger ladder

Example Sentences

Single stair, and the fate of Culver City’s ordinance specifically, represents an early California acid test.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Bosses said "people have gone from not being able to walk very far or up the stairs to being more active with their grandkids".

Read more on BBC

Mascalusco used to have an active lifestyle, but the damage to her lungs made it so she could barely go up and down the stairs of her Utah home without feeling winded.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Then something rolls out into view and runs for the stairs.

Read more on Literature

Mater Lumley led Penelope through a short hallway at the back of the shop and up a flight of stairs to the apartment above the store.

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Related Words

• amount 
• extent 
• grade 
• intensity 
• point 
• quality 
• rate 
• scale 
• scope 
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• size 
• standard 
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• term