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:
Nearly three-quarters of Gen Z adults stay home on weekends, according to a new Harris Poll, with 62% saying they avoid going out to prevent financial regret.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
"If they tell us to stay there, we have to stay and wait, regardless of the situation," he said.
From BBC ● 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
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
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
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
They zeroed in on videogames after regularly visiting lounges on business trips and finding them too staid.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 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
Her appearance always acted as a damper to the curiosity raised by her oral oddities: hard-featured and staid, she had no point to which interest could attach.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Critically, Microsoft stayed cash-flow positive, unlike other hyperscalers, including Google-parent Alphabet, which recently reported negative cash flows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The same share said they stayed in at least two weekends every month.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
Boxing history is filled with champions who stayed that one fight too long.
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
Don Quixote stayed hidden in a nearby bush while Sancho went to look for the lady he had never seen.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
International buyers are staying away from the U.S. housing market for a few key reasons.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
“It made me think much more about staying alive,” he said.”
From Los Angeles Times ● 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
Aaron's family are now staying in Dunfermline, following a spell at an Airbnb in Grangemouth.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Then he said, ‘I did think twice. I thought about staying, and not going to look for you.’
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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.
