stay

¹ American  

[stey] / 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  

[stey] / 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  

[stey] / 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

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

Britain has not seen the level of opposition now facing US projects, McDonald said, but he cautioned against assuming it would stay that way, citing British resistance to hydrogen projects and fracking.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

“No pun intended, we just stay in our ‘lane,’ here at Clemson.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

“Given the uncertainty with this pattern, stay tuned,” the weather service office in Oxnard said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

According to Monaco, Camara had agreed to stay with the club.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

When we make it to my locker, whatever will I had to stay upright is gone.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

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

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

But he’ll return, as a ghost, to criticize his son, who, admittedly, has grown staid and stale in his life, his marriage and his work, whatever that’s been.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

Commodity price hikes do the same, only more rapidly, while stock market rallies offer higher-yielding alternatives to their staid relations in the fixed-income market.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

She saw staid family vehicles drawn by dependable-looking teams.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

"In a business full of egos, she's stayed loyal to everyone around her and remained the most humble person you could ever meet," Peters says.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

“As a novelist, it stayed with me,” Boyagoda said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

They proliferated in recent years as companies stayed private for longer and individual investors wanted to profit from their ballooning valuations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

"It cannot ensure the two greatest needs of the country: durable peace and stability, and democratic governance," said Merera Gudina, chairman of the Caucus of Opposition Parties, which stayed away from the dialogue.

From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026

The knot in my chest eased as we fell into the familiar rhythm of discussing books and planning our conquest of ATO for later, but a nugget of discomfort stayed with me.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

And finally, the analysts said demand staying inelastic for traditional servers has allowed for more margin capture.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

The charismatic, 65-year-old megastar -- a frequent red carpet guest at the world's oldest film festival -- will provide a shot of A-lister adrenaline despite Hollywood studios mostly staying away this year.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

But Wimbledon's clear rules mean players know where they stand and spectators are sure they can travel home by public transport and won't be staying on Centre Court until the early hours.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

Santigold’s eclectic, genre-defying sound may be a hallmark of the “indie sleaze” era, but her standout midday Daisy Chain set proved she has plenty of staying power in 2026.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

This resulted in the happily married Mrs. Kate Fox Jencken staying properly out of the spotlight also.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Related Words

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