stay
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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to spend some time in a place, in a situation, with a person or group, etc..
He stayed in the army for ten years.
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to continue to be as specified, as to condition or state.
to stay clean.
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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.
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to keep up, as with a competitor (followed bywith ).
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Poker. to continue in a hand by matching an ante, bet, or raise.
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to stop or halt.
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to pause or wait, as for a moment, before proceeding or continuing; linger or tarry.
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Archaic. to cease or desist.
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Archaic. to stand firm.
verb (used with object)
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to stop or halt.
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to hold back, detain, or restrain, as from going further.
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to suspend or delay (actions, proceedings, etc.).
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to appease or satisfy temporarily the cravings of (the stomach, appetite, etc.).
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to remain through or during (a period of time).
We stayed two days in San Francisco.
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to remain to the end of; remain beyond (usually followed byout ).
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Archaic. to await.
noun
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the act of stopping or being stopped.
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a stop, halt, or pause; a standstill.
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a sojourn or temporary residence.
a week's stay in Miami.
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Law. a stoppage or arrest of action; suspension of a judicial proceeding.
The governor granted a stay of execution.
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Informal. staying power; endurance.
idioms
noun
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a flat strip of steel, plastic, etc., used especially for stiffening corsets, collars, etc.
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a long rod running between opposite walls, heads or sides of a furnace, boiler, tank, or the like, to strengthen them against internal pressures.
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Chiefly British. stays, a corset.
verb (used with object)
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to support, prop, or hold up (sometimes followed byup ).
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to sustain or strengthen mentally or spiritually.
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to rest on (something, as a foundation or base) for support.
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to cause something to become fixed or to rest on (a support, foundation, base, etc.)
noun
verb (used with object)
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to support or secure with a stay or stays.
to stay a mast.
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to put (a ship) on the other tack.
verb (used without object)
idioms
verb
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(intr) to continue or remain in a certain place, position, etc
to stay outside
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(copula) to continue to be; remain
to stay awake
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to reside temporarily, esp as a guest
to stay at a hotel
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(tr) to remain for a specified period
to stay the weekend
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(intr) to reside permanently or habitually; live
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archaic to stop or cause to stop
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(intr) to wait, pause, or tarry
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(tr) to delay or hinder
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(tr)
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to discontinue or suspend (a judicial proceeding)
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to hold in abeyance or restrain from enforcing (an order, decree, etc)
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to endure (something testing or difficult, such as a race)
a horse that stays the course
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to keep pace (with a competitor in a race, etc)
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(intr) poker to raise one's stakes enough to stay in a round
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(tr) to hold back or restrain
to stay one's anger
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(tr) to satisfy or appease (an appetite, etc) temporarily
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archaic (tr) to quell or suppress
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archaic (intr) to stand firm
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See put
noun
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the act of staying or sojourning in a place or the period during which one stays
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the act of stopping or restraining or state of being stopped, etc
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the suspension of a judicial proceeding, etc
stay of execution
noun
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anything that supports or steadies, such as a prop or buttress
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a thin strip of metal, plastic, bone, etc, used to stiffen corsets, etc
verb
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(often foll by up) to prop or hold
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(often foll by up) to comfort or sustain
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to cause to rely or depend
noun
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."
Vocabulary lists containing stay
"The Flea" by John Donne
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Academic Vocabulary and Vocabulary from Readings 1, Unit 3
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United States v. Nixon (1974), List 4
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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.
See Examples For:
His explanation is that the AI boom is bringing middle-income people, such as contractors and engineers, to stay temporarily in areas where data centers are being built.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
“By being able to give us this opportunity, it doesn’t just stay here,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
"One of my coaches was still with the team, travelling over for Birmingham 2022 and after he came to stay with me and kept pushing me to start again," she says.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Sleep is closely linked to body temperature: to fall asleep and stay asleep, the body usually needs to lose some heat.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
“They just linger here, and the longer they stay, the more decayed their spirits get.”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
From the moment Gavriel steps inside the narrator’s top-tier Jerusalem high school, he casts a shadow on the staid older faculty members.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Preparations for the event have been conducted in the utmost secrecy, with top reporters from the usually staid New York Times forced to sleuth through local hotels for hints of the guest list.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
We know this because Charles Dance recites Michelangelo’s snidest journal passages throughout, bringing a welcome pettiness to an otherwise staid chapter of art history.
From Salon ● May 16, 2026
His posts since then, however - particularly since arriving in Omaha - have been much more staid, as has his outlook, Rosmarin said.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
He wasn’t wearing staid mercher black any longer, but garish striped trousers and a maroon paisley vest.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
After the 2008-09 financial crisis, people stayed in cities because that’s where good jobs were.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
In the end, Fury stayed away and perhaps that was a blessing for Joshua.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
He was speaking from the shaded courtyard garden of his Mayer am Pfarrplatz heuriger, down the steps from the room where Beethoven stayed while composing part of the Ninth Symphony.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Mookie Betts matched him, then Miguel Rojas stayed back on a changeup and sent it to deep right field for a sacrifice fly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
He delivered it straight into the classroom and stayed on to see what was in it.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
International buyers are staying away from the U.S. housing market for a few key reasons.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
"I can say that I am staying in India with due respect and dignity," she said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
Between trips, some Waymo vehicles use publicly available parking spaces to avoid creating unnecessary traffic on roads while staying nearby potential passengers throughout the city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Peter was 14 at the time, old enough to be allowed to spend the day on his own in the seaside town of Barmouth, where his family were staying in a boarding house.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
“You staying for the midnight movies?” she asks, but you’re distracted by the scent of frybread and strawberries.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
