GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
last match results
Found 2 definitions
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Stay (stā), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stayed (stād) or Staid (stād); p. pr. & vb. n. Staying.] [OF. estayer, F. étayer to prop, fr. OF. estai, F. étai, 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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Stayed (stād), a. Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid. Bacon. Pope.
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