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stay1

[stey]
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verb (used without object), stayed or staid, stay·ing.
  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 or at): Please stay with the project as long as you can.
  4. to keep up, as with a competitor (followed by with).
  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 or staid, stay·ing.
  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 by out).
  7. Archaic. to await.
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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.
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Idioms
  1. stay the course, to persevere; endure to completion.
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Origin of stay1

1400–50; late Middle English staien < Anglo-French estaier, Old French estai-, stem of ester < Latin stāre to stand

stay2

[stey]
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. stays, Chiefly British. a corset.
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verb (used with object), stayed, stay·ing.
  1. to support, prop, or hold up (sometimes followed by up).
  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.)
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Origin of stay2

1505–15; apparently same as stay3 (compare Old French estayer to hold in place, support, perhaps derivative of Middle English steye stay3)

stay3

[stey]Chiefly Nautical
noun
  1. any of various strong ropes or wires for steadying masts, funnels, etc.
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verb (used with object), stayed, stay·ing.
  1. to support or secure with a stay or stays: to stay a mast.
  2. to put (a ship) on the other tack.
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verb (used without object), stayed, stay·ing.
  1. (of a ship) to change to the other tack.
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Idioms
  1. in stays, (of a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel) heading into the wind with sails shaking, as in coming about.
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Origin of stay3

before 1150; Middle English stey(e), Old English stæg; cognate with German Stag
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for stays

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

British Dictionary definitions for stays

stays

pl n
  1. rare corsets with bones in them
  2. a position of a sailing vessel relative to the wind so that the sails are luffing or abackCompare irons (def. 2)
  3. miss stays or refuse stays (of a sailing vessel) to fail to come about
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stay1

verb
  1. (intr) to continue or remain in a certain place, position, etcto stay outside
  2. (copula) to continue to be; remainto stay awake
  3. (intr often foll by at) to reside temporarily, esp as a guestto stay at a hotel
  4. (tr) to remain for a specified periodto stay the weekend
  5. (intr) Scot and Southern African 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. (intr; usually foll by with) 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 restrainto stay one's anger
  14. (tr) to satisfy or appease (an appetite, etc) temporarily
  15. (tr) archaic to quell or suppress
  16. (intr) archaic to stand firm
  17. stay put See put (def. 18)
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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, etcstay of execution
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See also stay out

Word Origin

C15 staien, from Anglo-French estaier, to stay, from Old French ester to stay, from Latin stāre to stand

stay2

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 (tr) archaic
  1. (often foll by up) to prop or hold
  2. (often foll by up) to comfort or sustain
  3. (foll by on or upon) to cause to rely or depend
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See also stays (def. 1)

Word Origin

C16: from Old French estaye, of Germanic origin; compare stay ³

stay3

noun
  1. a rope, cable, or chain, usually one of a set, used for bracing uprights, such as masts, funnels, flagpoles, chimneys, etc; guySee also stays (def. 2), stays (def. 3)
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Word Origin

Old English stæg; related to Old Norse stag, Middle Low German stach, Norwegian stagle wooden post
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for stays

stay

v.

"to remain," mid-15c., from Middle French estai-, stem of ester "to stay or stand," from Old French, from Latin stare "to stand" (cf. Italian stare, Spanish estar "to stand, to be"), from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Originally "come to a halt;" sense of "remain" is first recorded 1570s.

Noun senses of "appliance for stopping," "period of remaining in a place," and (judicial) "suspension of proceeding" all developed 1525-1550. Stay-at-home (adj.) is from 1806. Stay put is first recorded 1843, American English. "To stay put is to keep still, remain in order. A vulgar expression" [Bartlett]. Phrase stay the course is originally (1885) in reference to horses holding out till the end of a race.

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stay

n.1

"support, prop, brace," 1510s, from Middle French estaie "piece of wood used as a support," perhaps from Frankish *staka "support," from Proto-Germanic *stagaz (cf. Middle Dutch stake "stick," Old English steli "steel" stæg "rope used to support a mast"), from PIE *stak- (see stay (n.2)). If not, then from the root of stay (v.). Stays "laced underbodice" is attested from c.1600.

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stay

n.2

"strong rope which supports a ship's mast," from Old English stæg, from Proto-Germanic *stagan (cf. Dutch stag, Low German stach, German Stag, Old Norse stag), from PIE *stak-, ultimately an extended form of root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). The verb meaning "secure or steady with stays" is first recorded 1620s.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with stays

stay

In addition to the idioms beginning with stay

also see:

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.