What does "stay" mean?
Continuance or a period of time spent in a place; abode for an indefinite time.
Stay
/steɪ/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Continuance or a period of time spent in a place; abode for an indefinite time.
- Grammar: stay is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: halt, remain, abandon, abeyance.
- Useful contrasts: alternate number, changeant, dynamic shift.
- Usage evidence: I'd like to stay for one night.
How to use "stay"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "stay" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "stay" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "stay" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "stay" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "stay" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "halt" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "stay", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Continuance or a period of time spent in a place; abode for an indefinite time.
"I hope you enjoyed your stay in Hawaii."
- 2 A prop; a support.
"My onely strength and stay."
- 3 A strong rope or wire supporting a mast, and leading from one masthead down to some other, or other part of the vessel.
- 4 continuing or remaining in a place or state wordnet
- 5 A postponement, especially of an execution or other punishment.
"The governor granted a stay of execution."
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 A piece of stiff material, such as plastic or whalebone, used to stiffen a piece of clothing.
"Where are the stays for my collar?"
- 7 A guy, rope, or wire supporting or stabilizing a platform, such as a bridge, a pole, such as a tentpole, the mast of a derrick, or other structural element.
"The engineer insisted on using stays for the scaffolding."
- 8 (nautical) brace consisting of a heavy rope or wire cable used as a support for a mast or spar wordnet
- 9 A stop; a halt; a break or cessation of action, motion, or progress. archaic
"stand at a stay"
- 10 A corset. in-plural
"Her figure was tall, yet not too tall; comely and well-developed, yet not fat; her head set on her shoulders with an easy, pliant firmness; her waist, perfection in the eyes of a man, for it occupied its natural place, it filled out its natural circle, it was visibly and delightfully undeformed by stays."
- 11 The transverse piece in a chain-cable link.
- 12 a thin strip of metal or bone that is used to stiffen a garment (e.g. a corset) wordnet
- 13 A fixed state; fixedness; stability; permanence.
- 14 A fastening for a garment; a hook; a clasp; anything to hang another thing on. archaic
- 15 a judicial order forbidding some action until an event occurs or the order is lifted wordnet
- 16 A station or fixed anchorage for vessels.
- 17 the state of inactivity following an interruption wordnet
- 18 Restraint of passion; prudence; moderation; caution; steadiness; sobriety.
"The wisdom, stay, and moderation of the king."
- 19 Hindrance; let; check. obsolete
"They were able to read good authors without any stay, if the book were not false."
Verb
- 1 To remain in a particular place, especially for a definite or short period of time; sojourn; abide. intransitive
"We stayed in Hawaii for a week. I can only stay for an hour."
- 2 To brace or support with a stay or stays
"stay a mast"
- 3 stay the same; remain in a certain state wordnet
- 4 To continue to have a particular quality. copulative, intransitive
"Wear gloves so your hands stay warm."
- 5 To incline forward, aft, or to one side by means of stays. transitive
Show 29 more definitions
- 6 stop or halt wordnet
- 7 To prop; support; sustain; hold up; steady. transitive
"Lord Mayor of London. See, where he stands between two clergymen! Duke of Buckingham. Two props of virtue for a Christian prince, To stay him from the fall of vanity:"
- 8 To tack; put on the other tack. transitive
"to stay ship"
- 9 overcome or allay wordnet
- 10 To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to satisfy in part or for the time. transitive
"[…] he has devoured a whole loaf of bread and butter, as fast as Phoebe could cut it, and it has not staid his stomach for a minute […]"
- 11 To change; tack; go about; be in stays, as a ship. intransitive
- 12 fasten with stays wordnet
- 13 To stop or delay something.; To stop; detain; keep back; delay; hinder. transitive
"Your ships are stay’d at Venice."
- 14 be in a certain place and not leave wordnet
- 15 To stop or delay something.; To restrain; withhold; check; stop. transitive
"1597, Richard Hooker, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Book 5, in The Works of Mr. Richard Hooker, London: Andrew Crook, 1666, p. , […] all that may but with any the least shew of possibility stay their mindes from thinking that true, which they heartily wish were false, but cannot think it so […]"
- 16 stop a judicial process wordnet
- 17 To stop or delay something.; To cause to cease; to put an end to. transitive
"Now stay your strife […]"
- 18 hang on during a trial of endurance wordnet
- 19 To stop or delay something.; To put off; defer; postpone; delay; keep back. transitive
"The governor stayed the execution until the appeal could be heard."
- 20 dwell wordnet
- 21 To hold the attention of. transitive
- 22 continue in a place, position, or situation wordnet
- 23 To bear up under; to endure; to hold out against; to resist. obsolete, transitive
"She will not stay the siege of loving terms, Nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes,"
- 24 To wait for; await. obsolete, transitive
"My father stays my coming;"
- 25 To remain for the purpose of; to stay to take part in or be present at (a meal, ceremony etc.). obsolete, transitive
"I stay dinner there."
- 26 To rest; depend; rely. intransitive, obsolete
"Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:"
- 27 To stop; come to a stand or standstill. intransitive, obsolete
- 28 To come to an end; cease. archaic, intransitive
"That day the storm stayed."
- 29 To dwell; linger; tarry; wait. archaic, intransitive
"Yet not to be wholly silent of all your Charities I must stay a little on one Action, which preferr’d the Relief of Others, to the Consideration of your Self."
- 30 To make a stand; to stand firm. dated, intransitive
- 31 To hold out, as in a race or contest; last or persevere to the end; to show staying power. intransitive
"That horse stays well."
- 32 To wait; rest in patience or expectation. intransitive, obsolete
"I’ll tell thee all my whole device / When I am in my coach, which stays for us."
- 33 To wait as an attendant; give ceremonious or submissive attendance. intransitive, obsolete
"I have a servant comes with me along, That stays upon me […]"
- 34 To live; reside. India, Scotland, Singapore, South-Africa, Southern-US, colloquial, intransitive
"Hey, where do you stay at?"
Adjective
- 1 Steep; ascending. UK, dialectal
"The Castle of Edr. is naturally a great strenth situate upon the top of a high Rock perpendicular on all sides, except on the entry from the burgh, which is a stay ascent and is well fortified with strong Walls, three gates each one within another, with Drawbridges, and all necessary fortifications."
- 2 (of a roof) Steeply pitched. UK, dialectal
- 3 Difficult to negotiate; not easy to access; sheer. UK, dialectal
- 4 Stiff; upright; unbending; reserved; haughty; proud. UK, dialectal
Adverb
- 1 Steeply. UK, dialectal
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"I'd like to stay for one night."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "stay"?
Common synonyms include: halt, remain, abandon, abeyance, abide, abide.
How do you use "stay" in a sentence?
I'd like to stay for one night.
How do you pronounce "stay"?
Pronounced /steɪ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English steyen, staien, from Old French estayer, estaier (“to fix, prop up, support, stay”), from estaye, estaie (“a prop, stay”), from Middle Dutch staeye (“a prop, stay”), a contracted form of staede, stade (“a prop, stay, help, aid”) (compare Middle Dutch staeyen, staeden (“to make firm, stay, support, hold still, stabilise”)), from Proto-West Germanic *stadi (“a site, place, location, standing”), from Proto-Germanic *stadiz (“a standing, place”), from Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis (“standing”). Influenced by Old English stæġ ("a stay, rope"; see below). Cognate with Old English stede (“a place, spot, locality, fixed position, station, site, standing, status, position of a moving body, stopping, standing still, stability, fixity, firmness, steadfastness”), Swedish stödja (“to prop, support, brace, hold up, bolster”), Icelandic stöðug (“continuous, stable”). More at stead, steady. Sense of "remain, continue" may be due to later influence from Old French ester, esteir (“to stand, be, continue, remain”), from Latin stāre (“stand”), from the same Proto-Indo-European root above; however, derivation from this root is untenable based on linguistic and historical grounds. An alternative etymology derives Old French estaye, estaie, from Frankish *stakā, *stakō (“stake, post”), from Proto-Germanic *stakô (“stake, bar, stick, pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- (“rod, pole, stick”), making it cognate with Old English staca (“pin, stake”), Old English stician (“to stick, be placed, lie, remain fixed”). Cognate with Albanian shtagë (“a long stick, a pole”). More at stake, stick.
Etymology 2
From Middle English stay, from Old French estaye, estaie (“a prop, a stay”), from Middle Dutch staeye (“a prop, stay”), a contracted form of staede, stade ("a prop, stay, help, aid"; compare Middle Dutch staeyen, staeden (“to make firm, stay, support, hold still, stabilise”)), from Old Dutch *stad (“a site, place, location, standing”), from Proto-Germanic *stadiz (“a standing, place”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”). See above.
Etymology 3
From Middle English stay, from Old English stæġ (“stay, a rope supporting a mast”), from Proto-West Germanic *stag, from Proto-Germanic *stagą (“stay, rope”), from Proto-Indo-European *stek-, *stāk- (“stand, pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”). Cognate with Dutch stag (“stay”), German Stag (“stay”), Swedish stag (“stay”), Icelandic stag (“stay”).
Etymology 4
From Middle English *steȝe, from Old English *stǣġe, an apocopated variant of stǣġel (“steep, abrupt”), from Proto-West Germanic *staigil (“steep”), see sty.