stay

¹ American  

[stay] / steɪ /

verb (used without object)

stayed, 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 orat ).

   Please stay with the project as long as you can.

4. to keep up, as with a competitor (followed bywith ).

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.

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verb (used with object)

stayed, staid, staying

1. to stop or halt.

2. to hold back, detain, or restrain, as from going further.

3. to suspend or delay (actions, proceedings, etc.).

4. to appease or satisfy temporarily the cravings of (the stomach, appetite, etc.).

5. to remain through or during (a period of time).

   We stayed two days in San Francisco.

6. to remain to the end of; remain beyond (usually followed byout ).

7. Archaic. to await.

noun

1. the act of stopping or being stopped.

2. a stop, halt, or pause; a standstill.

3. a sojourn or temporary residence.

   a week's stay in Miami.

4. Law. a stoppage or arrest of action; suspension of a judicial proceeding.

   The governor granted a stay of execution.

5. Informal. staying power; endurance.

idioms

1. stay the course, to persevere; endure to completion.

stay ² American  

[stay] / 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. Chiefly British. stays, a corset.

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verb (used with object)

stayed, staying

1. to support, prop, or hold up (sometimes followed byup ).

2. to sustain or strengthen mentally or spiritually.

3. to rest on (something, as a foundation or base) for support.

4. to cause something to become fixed or to rest on (a support, foundation, base, etc.)

stay ³ American  

[stay] / steɪ /

noun

1. any of various strong ropes or wires for steadying masts, funnels, etc.

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verb (used with object)

stayed, staying

1. to support or secure with a stay or stays.

   to stay a mast.

2. to put (a ship) on the other tack.

verb (used without object)

stayed, staying

1. (of a ship) to change to the other tack.

idioms

1. in stays, (of a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel) heading into the wind with sails shaking, as in coming about.

stay ¹ British  

/ steɪ /

verb

1. (intr) to continue or remain in a certain place, position, etc

   to stay outside

2. (copula) to continue to be; remain

   to stay awake

3. to reside temporarily, esp as a guest

   to stay at a hotel

4. (tr) to remain for a specified period

   to stay the weekend

5. (intr) to reside permanently or habitually; live

6. archaic to stop or cause to stop

7. (intr) to wait, pause, or tarry

8. (tr) to delay or hinder

9. (tr)

   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. to keep pace (with a competitor in a race, etc)

12. (intr) poker to raise one's stakes enough to stay in a round

13. (tr) to hold back or restrain

    to stay one's anger

14. (tr) to satisfy or appease (an appetite, etc) temporarily

15. archaic (tr) to quell or suppress

16. archaic (intr) to stand firm

17. See put

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noun

1. the act of staying or sojourning in a place or the period during which one stays

2. the act of stopping or restraining or state of being stopped, etc

3. the suspension of a judicial proceeding, etc

   stay of execution

stay ² British  

/ 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

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verb

1. (often foll by up) to prop or hold

2. (often foll by up) to comfort or sustain

3. to cause to rely or depend

stay ³ British  

/ 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 stays

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stay More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing stay

• (stay on one's) right side
• (stay) in touch
• here to stay
• should have stood (stayed) in bed
• stick (stay) with

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Etymology

Origin of stay¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English staien, from Anglo-French estaier, Old French ester, from Latin stāre “to stand, stand up, be standing, stand in attendance”; see origin at stand

Origin of stay²

First recorded in 1505–15; apparently same as stay ³ (compare Old French estayer “to hold in place, support”), or perhaps derivative of Middle English steye “rope to steady a mast”; stay ³

Origin of stay³

First recorded before 1150; Middle English stai, stey(e), Old English stæg; cognate with German Stag, Dutch stag, Old Norse stag

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Explanation

To stay is to remain or wait in the same place. When you tell your dog to stay, you expect her to keep sitting until you call her over. You can stay in the short term, like when you stay in your seat even though you're antsy, or in the long term, like when you decide to stay in Missouri after you graduate from college. You can also stay calm or stay out of trouble. Legally, to stay is to delay or suspend proceedings, like when a judge stays a decision. A less-common meaning of stay is "a support," from the Middle French estaie, "wood used as a support."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stay staid stayed staying

Many northern and western areas will stay dry though with early fog lifting to leave patchy cloud and sunny spells.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

Ukraine’s air force quickly said there was no radiation threat and urged citizens to stay calm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

“The deal isn’t expected to close until the first half of 2028, so the stock could stay stuck that long,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026

She had been moved out of intensive care and faces an extensive hospital stay and long-term rehabilitation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

Hadn’t he wanted—needed—to stay here with every cell of his mind, body, and soul?

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

It would be hard to find a more L.A. scene than the one playing out downtown in the normally staid Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez United States Courthouse.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Before Ms. Parton, most female country singers cultivated staid, reserved images and achieved success with heartbreak ballads.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

And under Xi, Zhu's style of open, frank talk by officials has been replaced by a much more staid, closed-off approach.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

A punk-calypso track follows—“Abominable Snowman in the Market,” a fanciful warning to staid supermarket shoppers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Inside, we were met by another crowd of supporters, so that the hall seemed more like a raucous protest meeting than a staid court of law.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

For most of Netflix’s history, investors cared less about how much people watched than whether they signed up and stayed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

Israeli-Arabs, who make up around 20 percent of the population, are descendants of Palestinians who stayed after Israel's creation in 1948.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026

A measure of inflation stayed near a four-year high, reflecting higher costs companies are incurring to obtain energy and other supplies.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026

She and her son ducked down onto the floor of their car, where they stayed until police responded, she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

For the first days of my imprisonment, I stayed in a frenzy of anxiety about Father, Betsie, Willem, Pickwick.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

And like the rigorous Ashton work, this one, after Marius Petipa, had solos that challenged its dancers, who, even when revealing momentary struggles, proved their mettle by staying the course.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

"A consultant came to see me and he said I am staying in hospital until Maisie was born," she said.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

Unlike some climbers, Krakauer can wax poetic while staying honest about the stakes.

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026

Not only do we carry the horrors of the universe in our pockets, we spend most of our waking hours gazing into that abyss in the name of staying informed.

From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2026

Ma wouldn’t hear of me, or anyone, staying behind.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

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Related Words

• continue
• delay
• hang
• last
• linger
• remain
• reside
• settle
• stand
• stick around
• stop

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