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definitions

sty

1
[stahy]
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noun, plural sties.

a pen or enclosure for swine; pigpen.
any filthy place or abode.
a place of bestial debauchery.

verb (used with object), stied, sty·ing.

to keep or lodge in or as if in a sty.

verb (used without object), stied, sty·ing.

to live in or as if in a sty.

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RELATED WORDS

pen, pigpen, hole, pigsty, dump, shack, den, hovel, hordeolum

Nearby words

  1. stuttgart disease,
  2. stutz,
  3. stuyvesant,
  4. stuyvesant, peter,
  5. stv,
  6. stye,
  7. stygian,
  8. styl-,
  9. stylar,
  10. stylate

Origin of sty

1
before 1000; (noun) Middle English; Old English *stī in stī-fearh sty-pig; probably identical with stig- in stigweard steward; cognate with Old Norse stī, Dutch stijg, German Steige

sty

2

or stye

[stahy]

noun, plural sties. Ophthalmology.

a circumscribed abscess caused by bacterial infection of the glands on the edge of the eyelid; hordeolum.

Origin of sty

2
1610–20; by false division of Middle English styanye sty (styan (Old English stīgend sty, literally, rising) + ye eye), taken to be sty on eye
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sty

British Dictionary definitions for sty

sty

noun plural sties

a pen in which pigs are housed and fed
any filthy or corrupt place

verb sties, stying or stied

to enclose or be enclosed in a sty

Word Origin for sty

Old English stig; related to Old Norse stīa pen, fold, Old High German stīga, Middle Dutch stije
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 sty
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for sty

sty

n. pl. sties

Inflammation of one or more sebaceous glands of an eyelid.hordeolum
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.