Stay

/steɪ/ · verb

Meaning

(intransitive) To remain in a particular place, especially for a definite or short period of time; sojourn; abide..

Definitions by Sense

1. (intransitive) To remain in a particular place, especially for a definite or short period of time; sojourn; abide.
2. (intransitive, copulative) To continue to have a particular quality.
3. (transitive) To prop; support; sustain; hold up; steady.
4. (transitive) To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to satisfy in part or for the time.
5. (transitive) To stop or delay something.
6. (transitive) To hold the attention of.
7. (transitive, obsolete) To bear up under; to endure; to hold out against; to resist.
8. (transitive, obsolete) To wait for; await.

Example Sentences

We stayed in Hawaii for a week.  I can only stay for an hour.

1874 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Three Friends of Mine,” IV, in The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems, Boston: James R. Osgood, 1875, p. 353, I stay a little longer, as one stays / To cover up the embers that still burn.

She would commaund the hasty Sunne to stay, Or backward turne his course from heuen's hight,

Stay, I command you; stay and hear me first,

“Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” ¶ She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.

Wear gloves so your hands stay warm.

Promise me you'll always stay/remain my little prince.

For as the Flames augment, and as they stay / At their full Height, then languish to decay, / They rise, and sink by Fits […]

Synonyms for stay

Antonyms for stay

Related Words

Word Forms

• stays
• staying
• stayed
• staid
• no-table-tags
• glossary
• stay
• stayest
• stayedst
• stayeth
• -
• stayer
• more stay
• most stay
• stey
• stee
• steigh
• sti

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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