Stay

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Stay \Stay\ (st[=a]), n. [AS. staeg, akin to D., G., Icel., Sw.,
     & Dan. stag; cf. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai, of Teutonic origin.]
     (Naut.)
     A large, strong rope, employed to support a mast, by being
     extended from the head of one mast down to some other, or to
     some part of the vessel. Those which lead forward are called


     fore-and-aft stays; those which lead to the vessel's side are
     called backstays. See Illust. of {Ship}.
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     {In stays}, or {Hove in stays} (Naut.), in the act or
        situation of staying, or going about from one tack to
        another. --R. H. Dana, Jr.
  
     {Stay holes} (Naut.), openings in the edge of a staysail
        through which the hanks pass which join it to the stay.
  
     {Stay tackle} (Naut.), a tackle attached to a stay and used
        for hoisting or lowering heavy articles over the side.
  
     {To miss stays} (Naut.), to fail in the attempt to go about.
        --Totten.
  
     {Triatic stay} (Naut.), a rope secured at the ends to the
        heads of the foremast and mainmast with thimbles spliced
        to its bight into which the stay tackles hook.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Stay \Stay\ (st[=a]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Stayed} (st[=a]d) or
     {Staid} (st[=a]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {Staying}.] [OF. estayer,
     F. ['e]tayer to prop, fr. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai, a prop,
     probably fr. OD. stade, staeye, a prop, akin to E. stead; or
     cf. stay a rope to support a mast. Cf. {Staid}, a., {Stay},
     v. i.]
     1. To stop from motion or falling; to prop; to fix firmly; to
        hold up; to support.
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              Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the
              one side, and the other on the other side. --Ex.
                                                    xvii. 12.
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              Sallows and reeds . . . for vineyards useful found
              To stay thy vines.                    --Dryden.
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     2. To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to
        satisfy in part or for the time.
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              He has devoured a whole loaf of bread and butter,
              and it has not staid his stomach for a minute. --Sir
                                                    W. Scott.
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     3. To bear up under; to endure; to support; to resist
        successfully.
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              She will not stay the siege of loving terms,
              Nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes. --Shak.
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     4. To hold from proceeding; to withhold; to restrain; to
        stop; to hold.
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              Him backward overthrew and down him stayed
              With their rude hands and grisly grapplement.
                                                    --Spenser.
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              All that may stay their minds from thinking that
              true which they heartily wish were false. --Hooker.
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     5. To hinder; to delay; to detain; to keep back.
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              Your ships are stayed at Venice.      --Shak.
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              This business staid me in London almost a week.
                                                    --Evelyn.
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              I was willing to stay my reader on an argument that
              appeared to me new.                   --Locke.
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     6. To remain for the purpose of; to wait for. "I stay dinner
        there." --Shak.
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     7. To cause to cease; to put an end to.
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              Stay your strife.                     --Shak.
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              For flattering planets seemed to say
              This child should ills of ages stay.  --Emerson.
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     8. (Engin.) To fasten or secure with stays; as, to stay a
        flat sheet in a steam boiler.
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     9. (Naut.) To tack, as a vessel, so that the other side of
        the vessel shall be presented to the wind.
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     {To stay a mast} (Naut.), to incline it forward or aft, or to
        one side, by the stays and backstays.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Stay \Stay\, n. [Cf. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai support, and E. stay
     a rope to support a mast.]
     1. That which serves as a prop; a support. "My only strength
        and stay." --Milton.
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              Trees serve as so many stays for their vines.
                                                    --Addison.
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              Lord Liverpool is the single stay of this ministry.
                                                    --Coleridge.
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     2. pl. A corset stiffened with whalebone or other material,
        worn by women, and rarely by men.
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              How the strait stays the slender waist constrain.
                                                    --Gay.
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     3. Continuance in a place; abode for a space of time;
        sojourn; as, you make a short stay in this city.
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              Make haste, and leave thy business and thy care;
              No mortal interest can be worth thy stay. --Dryden.
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              Embrace the hero and his stay implore. --Waller.
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     4. Cessation of motion or progression; stand; stop.
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              Made of sphere metal, never to decay
              Until his revolution was at stay.     --Milton.
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              Affairs of state seemed rather to stand at a stay.
                                                    --Hayward.
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     5. Hindrance; let; check. [Obs.]
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              They were able to read good authors without any
              stay, if the book were not false.     --Robynson
                                                    (More's
                                                    Utopia).
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     6. Restraint of passion; moderation; caution; steadiness;
        sobriety. [Obs.] "Not grudging that thy lust hath bounds
        and stays." --Herbert.
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              The wisdom, stay, and moderation of the king.
                                                    --Bacon.
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              With prudent stay he long deferred
              The rough contention.                 --Philips.
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     7. (Engin.) Strictly, a part in tension to hold the parts
        together, or stiffen them.
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     {Stay bolt} (Mech.), a bolt or short rod, connecting opposite
        plates, so as to prevent them from being bulged out when
        acted upon by a pressure which tends to force them apart,
        as in the leg of a steam boiler.
  
     {Stay busk}, a stiff piece of wood, steel, or whalebone, for
        the front support of a woman's stays. Cf. {Busk}.
  
     {Stay rod}, a rod which acts as a stay, particularly in a
        steam boiler.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Stay \Stay\ (st[=a]), v. i. [[root]163. See {Stay} to hold up,
     prop.]
     1. To remain; to continue in a place; to abide fixed for a
        space of time; to stop; to stand still.
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              She would command the hasty sun to stay. --Spenser.
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              Stay, I command you; stay and hear me first.
                                                    --Dryden.
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              I stay a little longer, as one stays
              To cover up the embers that still burn.
                                                    --Longfellow.
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     2. To continue in a state.
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              The flames augment, and stay
              At their full height, then languish to decay.
                                                    --Dryden.
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     3. To wait; to attend; to forbear to act.
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              I 'll tell thee all my whole device
              When I am in my coach, which stays for us. --Shak.
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              The father can not stay any longer for the fortune.
                                                    --Locke.
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     4. To dwell; to tarry; to linger.
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              I must stay a little on one action.   --Dryden.
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     5. To rest; to depend; to rely; to stand; to insist.
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              I stay here on my bond.               --Shak.
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              Ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and
              perverseness, and stay thereon.       --Isa. xxx.
                                                    12.
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     6. To come to an end; to cease; as, that day the storm
        stayed. [Archaic]
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              Here my commission stays.             --Shak.
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     7. To hold out in a race or other contest; as, a horse stays
        well. [Colloq.]
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     8. (Naut.) To change tack, as a ship.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  stay
       n 1: continuing or remaining in a place or state; "they had a
            nice stay in Paris"; "a lengthy hospital stay"; "a
            four-month stay in bankruptcy court"
       2: a judicial order forbidding some action until an event
          occurs or the order is lifted; "the Supreme Court has the
          power to stay an injunction pending an appeal to the whole
          Court"
       3: the state of inactivity following an interruption; "the
          negotiations were in arrest"; "held them in check";
          "during the halt he got some lunch"; "the momentary stay
          enabled him to escape the blow"; "he spent the entire stop
          in his seat" [syn: {arrest}, {check}, {halt}, {hitch}, {stop},
           {stoppage}]
       4: (nautical) brace consisting of a heavy rope or wire cable
          used as a support for a mast or spar
       5: a thin strip of metal or bone that is used to stiffen a
          garment (e.g. a corset)
       v 1: stay the same; remain in a certain state; "The dress
            remained wet after repeated attempts to dry it"; "rest
            assured"; "stay alone"; "He remained unmoved by her
            tears"; "The bad weather continued for another week"
            [syn: {remain}, {rest}] [ant: {change}]
       2: stay put (in a certain place); "We are staying in Detroit;
          we are not moving to Cincinnati"; "Stay put in the corner
          here!"; "Stick around and you will learn something!" [syn:
           {stick}, {stick around}, {stay put}] [ant: {move}]
       3: dwell; "You can stay with me while you are in town"; "stay a
          bit longer--the day is still young" [syn: {bide}, {abide}]
       4: continue in a place, position, or situation; "After
          graduation, she stayed on in Cambridge as a student
          adviser"; "Stay with me, please"; "despite student
          protests, he remained Dean for another year"; "She
          continued as deputy mayor for another year" [syn: {stay on},
           {continue}, {remain}]
       5: remain behind; "I had to stay at home and watch the
          children" [ant: {depart}]
       6: stop or halt; "Please stay the bloodshed!" [syn: {detain}, {delay}]
       7: stay behind; "The smell stayed in the room"; "The hostility
          remained long after they made up" [syn: {persist}, {remain}]
       8: a trial of endurance; "ride out the storm" [syn: {last out},
           {ride out}, {outride}]
       9: stop a judicial process; "The judge stayed the execution
          order"
       10: fasten with stays
       11: overcome or allay; "quell my hunger" [syn: {quell}, {appease}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  572 Moby Thesaurus words for "stay":
     abandon, abeyance, abide, abort, adhere, adjourn, advocate,
     afford support, afterthought, agglomerate, alpenstock, amnesty,
     anchor, arm, arrest, arrestation, athletic supporter, await, back,
     back up, backbone, backing, backpedal, backwater, bandeau, bar,
     be still, bear, bear up, bearer, bearing rein, belay, bell, berth,
     bide, bide the issue, billet at, bind, bit, bivouac, block,
     block up, blockade, blockage, bolster, bolster up, bottom, bra,
     brace, bracer, bracket, brake, brassiere, break, breath, breather,
     breathing place, breathing space, breathing spell, breathing time,
     bring to, bring up short, bunch, bung, bunk, buoy up,
     bureaucratic delay, burrow, buttress, cable, caesura, camp, cancel,
     cane, carrier, carry, carry on, caulk, cease, cease not,
     cease-fire, cervix, chain, check, checkmate, checkrein, chink,
     chock, choke, choke off, choke up, cigarette break, clasp, cleave,
     clinch, cling, cling to, clip the wings, clog, clog up, clot,
     cluster, coagulate, coast, cocktail hour, coffee break, cohabit,
     cohere, colonize, column, come to anchor, confine, congeal,
     congest, conglomerate, constipate, continue, continue to be, cork,
     corselet, corset, countercheck, cover, cradle, crook, crutch, curb,
     curb bit, cushion, cut it out, cut short, cutoff, dally, dam,
     dam up, damper, dawdle, day off, dead stop, deadlock, debarment,
     decelerate, defeat time, defer, deferment, deferral, defy time,
     delay, delayage, delayed reaction, desist, detain, detention,
     deter, determent, deterrence, dillydally, discontinuance,
     discontinuation, discontinue, discourage, discouragement,
     domesticate, domicile, domiciliate, doorstop, doss down,
     double take, downtime, drag, drag on, drag out, drag sail,
     dragging, draw rein, drift anchor, drift sail, drogue, drop,
     drop anchor, drop it, dwell, ease off, ease up, embrace, end,
     endgame, ending, endure, enforced respite, ensconce, establish,
     establish residence, estoppel, exemption, exist, extend, fetter,
     fill, fill up, final whistle, foil, forbiddance, foreclosure,
     forestalling, forestay, foul, found, foundation garment, freeze,
     freeze to, fulcrum, full stop, gird, girdle, give over,
     give support, go along, go on, grasp, grinding halt, ground,
     grow together, gun, guy, guywire, halt, hamper, hang, hang about,
     hang around, hang fire, hang on, hang out, hang together, hang up,
     hang-up, happy hour, have done with, hesitation, hinder, hindrance,
     hive, hold, hold back, hold everything, hold in check, hold off,
     hold on, hold out, hold over, hold steady, hold together, hold up,
     hold your horses, holdback, holdup, holiday, hug, immunity, impede,
     impunity, indemnity, inhabit, interim, interlude, intermezzo,
     intermission, intermittence, interrupt, interruption, interval,
     jam, jock, jockstrap, jog on, keep, keep afloat, keep back,
     keep going, keep house, keep on, keep quiet, keep up, knock it off,
     lag, lagging, lapse, last, last long, last out, lay aside, lay by,
     lay off, lay over, layoff, layover, leave off, lend support,
     let down, let up, letup, lie still, line, linger, live, live at,
     live on, live through, locate, lockout, lodge, logjam, loiter,
     lose ground, lose momentum, lose speed, lull, mainstay, maintain,
     maintainer, make late, mark time, martingale, mass, mast, moderate,
     moor, moratorium, move, neck, nest, never cease, nolle prosequi,
     non prosequitur, nonprosecution, not breathe, not stir, obstipate,
     obstruct, obstruction, obviation, occupy, pack, paperasserie, park,
     pause, pelham, people, perch, perdure, perennate, persist,
     pigeonhole, pillow, plug, plug up, populate, postpone,
     postponement, preclusion, predicate, prevail, prevent, prevention,
     procrastinate, prohibition, prolong, prop, prorogate, prorogue,
     protract, pull up, push aside, put aside, put off, put on ice,
     put paid to, quit, recess, red tape, red-tapeism, red-tapery, reef,
     refrain, rein in, reinforce, reinforcement, reinforcer, relax,
     relinquish, relocate, remain, remain motionless, remission, remora,
     renounce, repose, reprieve, reserve, reside, respite, rest,
     resting place, retard, retardance, retardation, rigging, room,
     roost, rope, run, run on, scotch, scrub, sea anchor, secure, set,
     set aside, set back, set by, set up housekeeping, set up shop,
     settle, settle down, shackle, shelve, shift off, shore, shore up,
     shoulder, shroud, sit down, sit tight, sit up, sit up for,
     sit-down strike, slack off, slack up, slacken, sleep on, slog on,
     slow, slow down, slow up, slow-up, slowdown, slowness, snaffle,
     sojourn, sojournment, solidify, spell, spile, spine, spoke, sprit,
     squat, staff, stagger on, stalemate, stall, stanch, stand,
     stand fast, stand firm, stand over, stand still, stand-down,
     standing rigging, standoff, standstill, stave, stave off, stay at,
     stay of execution, stay on, stay over, stay put, stay up,
     stay up for, stayover, stays, stem, stem the tide, stench, stick,
     stick around, stick fast, stick together, stiffener, stillstand,
     stop, stop cold, stop dead, stop over, stop short, stop up,
     stop-off, stopover, stoppage, stopper, stopping, stopple,
     strengthen, strengthener, stretch out, strike, strike root, stuff,
     stuff up, stymie, subsidize, subsist, subvention, support,
     supporter, surcease, survive, suspend, suspension, sustain,
     sustainer, sweat, sweat it out, sweat out, table, take a recess,
     take hold of, take in sail, take residence at, take root,
     take time, take up residence, tarry, tea break, tenant, terminate,
     throttle down, thwart, tide over, tie-up, time lag, time out,
     trammel, tread water, truce, underbrace, undergird, underlie,
     underpin, underpinning, underset, upbear, uphold, upholder, upkeep,
     vacation, visit, wait, wait a minute, wait and see, wait for,
     wait on, wait up for, waive, walking stick, walkout, watch,
     watch and wait, wear, work stoppage