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

“Everyone in the house is afraid now, and they’ve started forcing one member of the family to stay awake to protect the house,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

Kretinsky felt the agreement gave West Ham stability and allowed it to move into the summer following relegation with the clarity that persuaded skipper Jarrod Bowen to stay.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

For some patients, however, the medications can cause muscle pain, weakness, and difficulty exercising, making it harder to stay on treatment.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026

Many towns and cities help older homeowners stay in their homes by permitting them to defer their taxes until they sell their homes or pass away.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

I do as she says, and together we both stay still and just breathe.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

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

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

He wore impeccable three-piece Brooks Brothers suits, Bostonian loafers, and staid horn-rimmed glasses, and he knew the law.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

Businesses told researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that they would have put 5% more toward wages last year if healthcare costs had stayed flat.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

But they stayed in the forest for six months.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Many homeowners have stayed put in their current homes to maintain their low rates from years ago, weighing on available inventory.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Witnesses would note the oddness of Blake’s behavior, saying he sat on the curb while others stayed with Bakley as she died.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

He stayed in their New York City home near the newspaper’s office in lower Manhattan.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

The National Weather Service recommends limiting outdoor activity to the early hours of the day and staying in air-conditioned spaces during the afternoon and evening.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026

Thousands of displaced residents are now staying in evacuation centres - though the challenge is to keep them cool and hydrated as the region battles sweltering heat.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

“All that investment going on in the country, like the people that do it aren’t staying in luxury hotels. The people that do it are staying in midscale, upper midscale,” he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

International buyers are staying away from the U.S. housing market for a few key reasons.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

The only members of the household who felt as I did were the two Jewish women staying at Nollie’s.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Related Words

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