▪ I. stay, n.1
(steɪ)
Also 4–5 stey(e, 5 stye, 5–6 staie, 6 staye.
[OE. stæᵹ (? neut.) corresp. to Du. stag neut. and fem., staag neut., WFris. staech, LG. stach (16th c.), stag(g (E. Friesland), G. stag neut., ON. stag neut. (Da., Sw., Norw. stag, Icel. stag stay, clothes-line):—OTeut. *stago-, f. Teut. root *stah-: stag- to be firm (in *stahlo- steel n., ON. stagl the rack, Norw. stagle pole):—pre-Teut. *stak- or *stok-. The Teut. word has been adopted in the Rom. langs.: OF. (12th c.) estai (mod.F. étai), Sp., Pg. estay.]
1. Naut. A large rope used to support a mast, and leading from its head down to some other mast or spar, or to some part of the ship.
The stays which lead forward are called fore and aft stays; and those which lead down to the vessel's sides backstays (see backstay). The stays have also special names according to the mast to which they are attached: see forestay, mainstay, mizen-stay.
| a 1100 Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 288/26 [De Nave et Partibus eius.] Safo, stæᵹ. [Cf. ‘safon, stæþ’, Suppl. ælfric's Gloss, ibid. 182/27; ‘scaphon, funis in prora positus’ (Isidore).] 1296 MS. Acc. Exch. K.R. 5/20 m. 4 b, Capiuntur..ad vsum Galee..octo Copule Cord[orum] Capital[ium] .j. Stay, ij. Schetes, ij. Huppeteyes, j. Boye. 1307–8 Ibid. 14/14 In .ij. hupteghes. vj. couplis de hauedropes et .ij. Steyes..pro masta dicte Bargie..xxviij.s. 1336 Ibid. 19/31 m. 4 In xxx petris cordis de canabo..pro tribus steyes inde faciendis. 1417 in For. Acc. 8 Hen. V, d/2 In v peciis de ropes pro styes j. Couple Bakstyes ij hailers ij vpties. 1420 in For. Acc. 3 Hen. VI, g/2 De j. cathena ferri vocata lichechine ad seruiendum pro le Steye dicte Carrac'. 1485 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 40 Sherhokes for the stay..ij. Ibid. 48 For shrowdes.. vj, ffor staies..j. 1496 Ibid. 177 The Steyes for the Mayne maste. 1620 J. Taylor (Water P.) Praise Hempseed Wks. (1630) iii. 66/2 Your mastlines, ropeyarnes, gaskets, and your stayes. 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 30 A stay, a halyard, sheats. 1627 ― Sea Gram. v. 19 The vse of those staies are to keepe the Masts from falling aftwards, or too much forwards. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 232, I was near two Months..rigging and fitting my Mast and Sails; for I finish'd them very compleat, making a small Stay, and a Sail, or Foresail to it. 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. v. 341 The mast itself is supported..by the shrowd..and by two stays. 1750 T. R. Blanckley Naval Expos. s.v. Cordage, Stays are Cablelaid, but made with four Strands as Cables are with three, with an Addition of an Heart which goes through the Center of them. 1850 Longfellow Build. Ship 225 Each tall..mast is swung into its place; shrouds and stays holding it firm and fast! 1864 Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xvii. (ed. 3) 261 A Rudder sa., the tiller and stays or. 1877 Bryant Odyss. v. 313 And, rigging her with cords, and ropes, and stays, Heaved her with levers into the great deep. |
b. transf. (
a) A guy or rope supporting a flag-staff, or a pole of any kind. (
b) A supporting wire or cable on an aircraft.
| a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxiii. 393 They..strake and cut asonder the cordys and stayes so that many tentis fell to the erth. 1642 H. Bond Boatswain's Art 2, 1 Maine Flag-staffe stay. Ibid. 7, 1 Lanniard of the fore Topmast stay. Ibid. 8, 1 Maine Topgallant mast Stay. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2317 Stay, a guy supporting the mast of a derrick, etc. 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegr. 202 For this purpose stays and struts are employed. By a stay is meant whatever takes the pull or tension of the forces acting upon the pole. 1884 Act 47 & 48 Vict. c. 76 §20 A post, pole, standard, stay, strut, or other above ground contrivance for carrying, suspending or supporting a telegraph. 1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 8 Aug. 5/2 At an early hour the wire stays which supported one of the semaphores were cut preparatory to removing the post. 1894 O. Chanute Progress in Flying Machines 237 This main aeroplane..is trussed and stiffened in every direction by wire stays. 1908 H. G. Wells War in Air x. 317 It had taken only an hour or so to substitute wing stays from the second flying machine and to replace the nuts he had himself removed. 1919 S. Camm Aeroplane Construction xiii. 108 The various wires used in construction may be classified into four distinct types: the solid wire stay, the straining cord or cable used for stay wires, the extra flexible cable used for controls, and the swaged tie rods in plane or streamline form. |
2. Nautical phrases.
a. † at stays (
obs.),
on, upon (the) stays = abackstays.
in stays: said of a ship when her head is being turned to windward for the purpose of tacking.
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia i. i. (1912) 11 And now they were alreadie come upon the staies; when [etc.]. c 1595 Capt. Wyatt R. Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 9 Our Generall, to the intent they might with more ease fett us up, caused great draggs to be hanged over borde, oftentimes comminge on the staies, of purpose for them. a 1599 J. Locke in Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 106 And all this while the shippe lay on staies. 1606 Adm. Ct. Exam. 38, 1 Apr., Fell on his stayes and cast about. 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 29 Ware yawning, the ships at stayes, at backestayes. a 1642 Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts ii. (1704) 253/2 There are so few Sailors to tackle their Ships, that they will be taken upon the Stays. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey) s.v. Stay, To bring a Ship upon the Stays or To stay her, is to manage her Tackle and sails so that she cannot make any way forward. 1823 W. Scoresby Jrnl. 91 With the aid of a few observations taken ‘in stays’ the remaining twelve points were likewise determined. 1797 S. James Narr. Voy. 31 The ship being put in stays before the sail was half furled, the wind blew the body of the sail with great force flat against the Crosstrees. 1830 Marryat King's Own xvi, As he was in stays, a raking shot entered the cabin windows. 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 296 A vessel in the act of tacking is said to be in stays, or to be hove in stays: if she work slowly in tacking, she is said to be slack in stays. 1861 Times 16 Aug., Christabel was sailed the freeest,..and was remarkably quick in stays. |
b. to miss stays,
lose stays: of a ship, to fail in the attempt to go about.
| 1758 Ann. Reg. 83 The Invincible..of 74 guns,..missed her stays, and run upon a flat. 1770 Ibid. 166 The pilot-boat..losing her stays, was driven upon Hoyle's Bank. 1847 Lever Knt. Gwynne lxxiv, In a last endeavour to clear the head-lands of Clare, she missed stays. 1873 G. C. Davies Mount. & Mere xvi. 142 Hesitating a little in his management of the helm, the yacht missed stays. |
c. (at) a long stay,
short stay (
stay apeak,
stay-peak): see
quots.| 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 16 The anchor is a-stay when, in heaving it, the cable forms an acute angle with the water's edge. This is called a long stay-peak or a short stay-peak according as the anchor is farther from or nearer to the ship. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. xii. 25 Elasticity of form, which enables it to sustain sudden strains or jerks at short stay-peak. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 46 A ship drawn directly over the anchor is apeek; when the fore-stay and cable form a line, it is short stay apeek; when in a line with the main-stay, long stay apeek. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. vi. (ed. 2) 223 In being towed by a vessel, if alongside, contrive to have the rope from as far forward as possible, so as to avoid riding at a short stay. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 198 Heave in to a short stay (when the amount of cable out is a little more than the depth of water). |
3. Comb.,
stay-block, a block buried in the ground as an attachment for the stay of a telegraph pole;
stay-hole (see
quot.);
stay-light, a riding light (
Cent. Dict. 1891);
† stay-nail, a nail for securing a stay;
stay-peak (see 2 c);
stay-rope,
= sense 1;
stay-tackle (see
quot. 1815);
stay-wire, (
a) a wire forming part of a stay for a telegraph pole; (
b) a supporting wire on an aircraft. Also stay-sail.
| 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegr. 204 The hole for the *stay-block should be under-cut in the manner shown in fig. 119. |
| 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 89 *Stay-holes. Holes made through staysails, at certain distances along the hoist, through which they are seized to the hanks on the stay. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Stay-hole. |
| 1296 MS. Acc. Exch. K.R. 5/20 m. 4 b, In vna petra ferri yspannie ad *staynayl faciendum iiij.d. |
| c 1515 Cocke Lorell's B. 12 Some the *stay rope suerly byndes. |
| 1815 Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney) *Stay-Tackle, a large tackle, attached by means of a pendant to the main stay. It is used to hoist heavy bodies..in and out of the ship or out of the holds. 1836 Marryat Pirate xiii, Their yards and stay-tackles are up, all ready for hoisting out the long-boat. |
| 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegr. 206 The *stay-wires should be at least three inches distant from the line wire nearest to them. 1919 [see sense 1 b above]. 1969 K. Munson Pioneer Aircraft 1903–14 9 The superposed horizontal surfaces, A, formed by stretching cloth upon frames of wood and wire, constitute the ‘wings’ or supporting part of the apparatus. They are connected to each other through hinge-joints by upright standards and lateral stay-wires. |
▪ II. stay, n.2 (
steɪ)
Also 6
staigh(e,
stey(e, 6–7
staie,
staye, 8
pl. steas.
[Prob. f. stay v.2; but in sense 1 perh. in part ad. OF. estaye fem. (mod.F. étai masc.), vbl. noun f. estayer stay v.2 The early
mod. Flemish
staede,
staeye, ‘fulcrum, sustentaculum, columen’ (only in Kilian), which is usually given as the source of the
Fr. words, is
prob. ad. OF. estaye, the spelling
staede being due to false etymology.]
1. a. Something that supports or steadies something else;
esp. an appliance for holding up or securing in position some part of a structure; a prop, pedestal, buttress, bracket, or the like.
† Also (
rarely), something to lay hold upon.
| c 1515 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 484 Glewe nayles broddes and Stayes. c 1535 in Gutch Coll. Cur. I. 205 Item for two stays for the vane of the said griffin. 1541 Copland Guydon's Quest. Cyrurg. O j, Take a lytell candell of waxe and gyue it a lytel stey belowe that it may holde ryght upon the flesshe. 1544 Betham Precepts War i. cxiv. F vj b, Longe berdes and longe heere,..in battayle be troublesome... For they be good stayes, to holde a man hard and fast. Wherfore it shalbe good to clap them shorte. 1573 Baret Alv. B. 1004 A Bragget or staie cut out of stone or timber in building to beare vp the sommer or other part,..mutulus. 1576 Gascoigne Philomene Wks. 1910 II. 204 At last: my staffe (which was mine onely stay) Did slippe. 1602 Churchw. Acc. Pittington (Surtees) 51 Item given to John Scotte for settinge a stay to the Steple. c 1610 Women Saints 115 Withoute pillow or any like supporting staye. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 166 Their said shirt bands..hung upon their shoulders, notwithstanding they had staies to beare them up. a 1618 Rates of Merchandizes E 4, Deskes or staies for bookes the dozen, ij. s. 1658 A. Fox Wurtz' Surg. ii. xxv. 164 Let not his Heel [in leg fracture] be without a stay and rest. 1680 Moxon Mech. Exerc. xi. 201 So that a Tool held steddy on any part of the Stay..will describe and cut a Screw. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) II. 49 An anchor that is fixed in firm ground, is reckon'd a sure stay for the ship in all weathers. 1713 Derham Phys.-Theol. vi. ii. 360 A Part of the Cerebell is on each side fenced with the Os petrosum; so that by this double Stay, its whole Mass is firmly contained within the Skull. 1827 Faraday Chem. Manip. xiv. (1842) 309 It will be proper to introduce a stay or two, pieces of black lead tube, for instance, as supporters to the lute. 1834–6 Barlow in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 105/2 Face wheels..have sometimes stays or braces proceeding from the back of the rim to some distance along the shaft. 1836 Thirlwall Greece xvi. II. 361 The scarcity became such that they were driven to boil and eat the leathern stays of their bedding. 1842 Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Stay, a piece performing the office of a brace, to prevent the swerving of the piece to which it is applied. 1886 C. E. Pascoe Lond. T-day xxxiv. (ed. 3) 310 A tree..propped up by iron stays. |
b. fig. A thing or a person that affords support; an object of reliance.
Exceedingly common in the second half of the 16th century. In modern use the word, though not uncommon even colloquially, has often a suggestion of archaism.
| a 1542 Wyatt Ps. cxxx. 24 Thi holly word off eterne excellence thi mercys promesse..have bene my stay my piller & pretence. 1553 Respublica 457 What marvaile then yf I, wanting a perfecte staigh From mooste flourishing welth bee falen in decaye? 1560 Bible (Geneva) 2 Sam. xxii. 19 The Lord was my stay. Ibid., Isa. iii. 1 For lo, the Lord God of hostes wil take away from Ierusalem and from Iudah the stay and the strength: euen all the stay of bread, and all the stay of water. 1563 Homilies II. xviii. Matrimony X xxxiv, For there is no stronger defence and staye in all our lyfe, then is prayer. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 27 Commons and moores which were woont to be the onely staie of the poore. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 190 Surely that is a very aery soule, whose chiefe rest and stay is not his Religion. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. i. 7 She was..the stay of all my affairs. 1802 Wordsw. Resolution & Indep. 139 ‘God’, said I, ‘be my help and stay secure’. 1821 Scott Kenilw. viii, His daughter, who should be the stay of his age. 1836 T. Kelly Hymn, ‘Speed thy Servants’ ii, As their stay thy promise taking. 1849 C. Brontë Shirley xii, She was still such a stay, such a counsellor. 1861 Reade Cloister & H. iv. (1896) 21 From that hour Gerard was looked upon as the stay of the family. 1884 Congregational Year Bk. 70 Make a legal statute the stay of religion, and you repeal religion. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay vii, His finery, however, was no stay to his self-esteem, for his..face had an uneasy, crestfallen expression. 1909 Expositor Jan. 55 The Temple was in his experience the centre and stay of Hebrew worship. |
c. In abstract sense: Support. Also,
† reliance.
† to make stay upon: to rely on.
| c 1530 Cox Rhet. (1899) 77 That what maketh for the accuser, euermore the contrary is sure staye for the defender. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. Erasm. Pref., Wee putte not our whole trust and staigh in thynges external. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 44 b, Let him walke..wyth the staye of other. 1593 Churchyard Shore's Wife liv, When weake Shore's wife had lost her staffe of stay. 1615 Chapman Odyss. iv. 171 She tooke her State-chaire; and a foot-stooles stay Had for her feete. 1618 in Foster Eng. Factories India (1906) 7, I am very glad of your stay and allowance. 1648 W. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 309 The sad news of my mother's death is to me a very great affliction, that had so great a stay by her. 1651 C. Cartwright Cert. Relig. ii. 44 The Popes not erring was but an opinion of policy, and not of Theologie; to give stay to the Laity. 1682 Bunyan Holy War (1905) 324 But for that you must wholly and solely have recourse to, and make stay upon his Doctrine, that is your teacher after the first order. 1866 Seeley Ecce Homo ii. (ed. 8) 11 We see the good man..deprived of the stay of all precedent or example. |
2. spec. a. A support for a climbing plant. ?
Obs.| 1577 Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 33 This amongest all other Pulse groweth in height without any stay. 1601 Holland Pliny xvii. xxiii. I. 538 If a Vine bee to climbe trees that are of any great height, there would bee staies and appuies set to it, whereupon it may take hold. a 1682 Sir T. Browne Tracts i. (1683) 33 In many places out of Italy Vines do grow without any stay or support. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. iii. 16 When I..Cut Micon's tender Vines, and stole the Stays. 1705 Addison Italy, Brescia 60 The Trees themselves serve, at the same time, as so many Stays for their Vines. |
† b. The arm or back of a chair.
Obs.| 1560 Bible (Geneva) 1 Kings x. 19 There were stayes on ether side on the place of the throne. 1656 W. Dugard tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. unl. §470. 135 For the more commodious sitting are stools and chairs, with staies [cum fulcris]. |
† c. = stay-bar (see 5 b (
b)).
Obs.| 1669 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 558 There shalbe..iron Stayes for all the said casements. |
† d. One of the strings holding up the brim of a shovel-hat. Also a cap-string passing under the chin.
Obs. With regard to the sense in
quot. 1601
cf. Cooper 1565: ‘
Spira,..a bande or lace aboute a cappe, or hatte.’
| 1601 Holland Pliny xxxiii. iii. II. 462 But say that women may be allowed to weare as much gold as they will,..in carkanets about their necks, in earings pendant at their ears, in staies, wreaths, & chinbands [L. collo, auribus, spiris]. 1720 Swift Right of Preced. betw. Physicians & Civilians 21, I know no Reason..that a White Wig should lower to hoary Hair, or a brush'd Beaver strike to a Carolina-Hat with Stays. 1775 R. Chandler Trav. Greece (1825) II. 156 The head-dress is a skull-cap, red or green, with pearls; a stay under the chin. |
e. Weaving.
= thrum n. 1.
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 381 Then, Weavers, stretch your Stays upon the Weft [orig. licia telæ addere]. |
f. A transverse piece in a link of a chain.
| 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 185 Any advantage supposed to be derived from stays or bars inserted in the direction of the shorter axis of the link. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 310 The stay across the link of a chain increases its strength about one-sixth. |
† g. A maulstick.
Obs. h. In various applications: see
quots.| 1841 W. Templeton Locomot. Engine 13 The stays..are generally of 3/4ths round copper,..being for the purpose of rendering the flat surfaces of the fire box capable of withstanding the force of the steam. 1860 Engl. & For. Mining Gloss. (ed. 2) 44 Stays, pieces of wood to secure the pumps in the engine-shaft. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Stay of a steamer, an iron bar between the two knees which secure the paddle-beams. 1871 W. Wigram Change-Ringing 2 From the top of the stock there rises a strong, upright piece of wood, or sometimes of iron, called the ‘stay’; and immediately below the bell's mouth, fixed to the frame, is the ‘slider’, or sliding-rest..by which the stay is caught when the bell is thrown mouth uppermost. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2317 Stay (steam), a. a rod, bar, bolt, or gusset in a boiler, to hold two parts together against the pressure of steam...b. sling-rods (sling-stays) connecting the locomotive boiler to its frame. c. Rods beneath the boiler supporting the inside bearings of the crank-axle of an English locomotive. |
i. ? A gate-post. ?
dial.| 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. ii, I leaned back on the stay of the gate. |
3. a. pl. (Also
a pair of stays.) A laced underbodice, stiffened by the insertion of strips of whale-bone (sometimes of metal or wood) worn by women (sometimes by men) to give shape and support to the figure:
= corset 2.
The use of the plural is due to the fact that stays were originally (as they still are usually) made in two pieces laced together.
| 1608 Middleton Trick to catch Old One i. i. 50 Stay (a thing few women can do..therefore they had need wear stays). 1682 Lond. Gaz. No. 1762/4 A pair of hair-coloured Sattin Stays. 1697 Vanbrugh Prov. Wife ii. i, With nothing on but her Stays, and her under scanty quilted Petticoat. 1706–7 Farquhar Beaux' Strat. iii. i, Come unlace your Steas. 1713 Gay Poems, Araminta 18 The rich Stays her Taper Shape confine. 1831 Ann. Reg., Chron. 26 Apr. 67/1 The Jury..returned a verdict, ‘that the deceased died of apoplexy, produced by her stays being too tightly laced.’ 1843 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 231 Her improved appearance in a pair of stays and a gown. 1846 Fairholt Costume 267 The men's custom of sometimes wearing stays. 1848 Dickens Dombey iii, Susan..had suddenly become so very upright that she seemed to have put an additional bone in her stays. 1867 J. Hatton Tallants iv, His enemies said he wore stays and slept in gloves. 1885 Truth 28 May 850/2 The stays..displace the bust, pushing the bosom up almost to the neck. |
| in figurative context. 1824 Byron Juan xv. lxxxv, But Virtue's self, with all her tightest laces, Has not the natural stays of strict old age. 1826 Scott Jrnl. 28 Oct., Beauvais is called the Pucelle, yet..she wears no stays—I mean, has no fortifications. 1842 Tennyson Talking Oak 60 The slight she-slips of loyal blood,..Strait-laced, but all-too-full in bud For puritanic stays. |
b. sing. rare.
| 1731 Gentl. Mag. I. 289 The stay he has an invincible aversion to, as giving a stiffness that is void of all grace. 1795 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Pindariana Wks. 1812 IV. 188 Long, very long, was Mistress Dinah's waist; The stiff stay high before. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair iii, He had tried, in order to give himself a waist, every girth, stay, and waistband then invented. 1871 Figure Training 97 My figure when unlaced would scarcely betray the fact that I had ever worn a stay. |
† c. (See
quot.)
Obs.| 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 94/1 In a Womans Gown there are..the Stayes, which is the body of the Gown before the Sleeves are put too, or covered with the outward stuff. |
† 4. ? A bag for applying a poultice.
Obs.| 1685 J. Cooke Marrow Chirurg. vi. §2. ix. (ed. 4) 215 As for the Throat, a Saffron-Stay, or a Millipedes sowed up in a Stay, which is reputed excellent. 1728 E. Smith Compl. Housew. (ed. 2) 249 A Stay to prevent a sore Throat... Take Rue,..mix it with Honey [etc.]..sew it up in a Linen Stay, and apply it. |
5. attrib. and
Comb. a. Obvious combinations, as (sense 3)
stay-binding,
stay-busk,
stay-cord,
stay-maker,
stay-making,
stay-stitcher,
stay-wearer,
stay-worker.
| 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 460 *Stay Bindings..are of twilled cotton, and may be had in white, grey, drab,..and buff colour. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Stay-busk, a stiff piece of wood, steel, or whalebone for the front support of a woman's stays. |
| 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 460 *Stay Cord..is to be had made of cotton and of linen, for the purpose of lacing stays. |
| 1730 Berkeley Let. Wks. 1871 IV. 172 One of Mrs. Van Homrigh's creditors (I think a *stay-maker) was in France. 1791 Boswell Johnson an. 1737, At the house of Mr. Norris, a staymaker. 1864 D. Allan Hist. Sk. Kirriemuir 15 He also wove cloth for staymakers. |
| 1843 Dickens Let. 2 Nov. (1974) III. 589 Trades... I think of..*stay-making [etc.]. 1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 4 June 10/1 The parties conducted a large stay-making and ladies' underclothing business. |
| 1723 Lond. Gaz. No. 6192/9 Elizabeth Beker,..*Stay-stitcher. |
| 1871 Figure-Training 51 As a *stay-wearer of a quarter of a century, you will, perhaps, allow me to [etc.]. |
| 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 141 *Stay-worker. |
b. Special comb.:
stay-band Sc., an iron rod serving to keep one leaf of a folding door in position;
stay-bar, (
a)
Arch. (see
quot. 1836); (
b) a bar for keeping a casement window open at a certain angle; (
c)
= stay-rod;
† stay-bobbin, cord used for lacing stays;
stay-bolt, a bolt connecting plates of a boiler, to secure them against internal pressure;
stay braid, a kind of braid used in ornamenting stays (1775 in Ash);
stay-end (see
quot.);
stay-goods, the materials of which stays are made (Ash);
stayhold nonce-word, a firm foothold;
stay-hook, (see
quot. 1860);
stay-irons, (
a) (see
quot. 1833); (
b) (see
quot. 1876);
stay-rod, a rod serving to give support, or to connect two parts of a machine or structure to prevent displacement;
stay-slot Sc., a diagonal bar of a hurdle;
stay-tube, in a multitubular boiler, each of a number of tubes that are made stronger than the rest, and fitted with nuts so as to serve as stays between the tube-plate and the front of the boiler;
stayword rare, a saying or maxim that gives support.
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 199 The upper-barn door, of two vertical leaves, requires an iron *stay-band to fasten it with. |
| 1399 MS. Acc. Exch. K.R. 473/11 m. 2, .j. *staybarre .v. transonbarrez. 1503–4 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 252 Payd for a stay bar of yerryn to stay the Nev pevys [= pews] in to þe vavtt. 1532–3 in E. Law Hampton Crt. Pal. (1885) 348 Payd to John à Guylders, smythe, for 170 lockketts, 25 staybarres. 1836 Parker Gloss. Archit. (1850) I. 445 Stay bar: the horizontal iron bar which extends in one piece along the top of the mullions of a traceried window. 1839 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 361/1 One of the most universally useful of these is a window fastening, or staybar. 1846 [see stay-rod]. |
| 1775 Ash, *Stay-bobbin, a kind of bobbin used for stays. |
| 1839 R. S. Robinson Naut. Steam Eng. 118 Strong *stay bolts, rivetted at each end, secure the flues to each other, and to the sides of the boiler. |
| 1759 Newport (Rhode I.) Mercury 26 June 4/3 To be sold by Jacob Richardson,..Stay Braid and Cord. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Stay end, the end of a back-stay in a carriage. Stay-ends are sold separately as pieces of carriage hardware. |
| 1851 Sir F. Palgrave Norm. & Eng. I. 619 He was sliding down a precipice seeming to offer some narrow ridge giving *stayhold to his feet. |
| 1743 Boston Gaz. in Alice M. Earle's Costume Col. Times (1894) 240 Silver'd *Stayhooks. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 21 Apr. (1815) 29 She pretended she was cheapening a stay-hook. 1860 Fairholt Costume (ed. 2) 591 Stay-hook, a small hook stuck in front of the boddice for hanging a watch or etui upon. |
| 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §84 Cast-iron casements, made to open with strong hinges, latches and spring *stay-irons (irons to keep the window open). 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 402/1 Stay-irons, in artillery carriages, the iron rods which connect the ends of the axle-bed to the splinter-bar. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 542 Two iron *stay-rods pass from the end frames to the shafts as an additional support to the latter. 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 310 Each engine has two of these frames, the whole supported by strong malleable iron stay-bars or stay-rods. |
| a 1844 Main in H. Stephens' Bk. Farm II. 70 The 2 *stay-slots are cut with a bend at the bottom, and rather sharply pointed. |
| 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 499/1 (Steam-Engine), There are 127 tubes at each end, 46 of which are *stay-tubes. |
| 1897 Westm. Gaz. 16 June 10/1 The Prince of Wales naturally finds in the motto of his crest a *stayword. |
▪ III. stay, n.3 (
steɪ)
Also 6
stey,
staie,
staye.
[f. stay v.1] 1. The action of stopping or bringing to a stand or pause; the fact of being brought to a stand or delayed; a stoppage, arrest, or suspension of action; a check, set-back.
| 1537 Hen. VIII in St. Papers (1834) II. Sithens the first stey of the violence of the late rebellion of the said Thomas Fytzgarald. 1550 Crowley Last Trumpet 283 As men that woulde never fynde stay, Tyll all the earth were in theyr hand. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utopia ii. vi. (1895) 214 In lesse than iii yeres space their was nothing in the Grek tonge that they lackede. They were able to reade good authors wythout anny staye [L. inoffense]. 1594 Spenser Epithal. 250 Poure out the wine without restraint or stay. 1594 Kyd Cornelia ii. 351 Fraile men..Had neuer power to practise stayes Of this celestiall influence. 1625 Bacon Ess., Vicissitude (Arb.) 572 As farre, as the Weaknesse of Humane Iudgement, can giue stay to so great Reuolutions. 1628 Digby Voy. Mediterr. (Camden) 2 To protect the skipper from a like stay againe if he should meete with other men of warre in his iorney to London. 1640 in Rushworth Hist. Coll. iii. (1692) I. 164 That there be a stay of committing any waste in the felling of any Wood. 1810 Scott Lady of L. v. xxi, Whose fiery steeds ill brooked the stay Of the steep street and crowded way. 1842 Macaulay Horatius lxiii, But for this stay, ere close of day We should have sacked the town. 1862 Borrow Wild Wales III. 99 A conqueror who no stay will brook. 1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 9 Sept. 12/1 It is hard to see what decent case Mr. Parnell will be able to make out for that stay upon the right of eviction which forms a provision of his bill. 1898 Daily News 22 Sept. 4/5 Our Special Correspondent suggests as a practicable minimum the stay of armaments for five years. |
b. Law. Suspension of a judicial proceeding.
| 1542 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. iii. i. 125 The Wardeyns of the Surgeons..to be here the next Court day..for the Stey of theyr sute in the Escheker. c 1590 Sir T. More (Malone Soc.) 603 Some of the Benche Sir, think it very fit that stay be made, and giue it out abroade the execution is deferd till morning. 1617 Earl of Worcester in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 208 There was a letter..for the stay of a suit depending in the Chancery. 1621 H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 31 Whether Yelverton made a stay of the last patent, and the reason why he past yt? 1743 Kames Decis. Crt. Sess. 1730–52 (1799) 67 This..makes it necessary for the charger to get the stay to his diligence removed. 1752 J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 214 And then asks her, What she can say for herself in stay of Execution. 1769 Blackstone Comm. IV. viii. 115 To obtain any stay of proceedings, other than by arrest of judgment or writ of error,..is likewise a praemunire. 1856 Ann. Reg., Chron. 65/2 The prisoner's counsel then moved for a stay of execution. 1875 Maine Hist. Instit. x. 281 The Distress when seized was in certain cases liable to a Stay. |
† c. to make stay of: to put a stop to (an action); to arrest (a person); to intercept (goods, etc.) in transit; to stop the circulation of (a book).
| 1572 in 13th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. iv. 12 To make staie of suche frebutters, rovers and men of warre with their shipes and boates. 1586 F. Grevil Let. in Arber Garner I. 488, I think fit there be made stay of that mercenary book. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. xxi. 119 Whereupon hee wrote unto the Lord Deputie this ensuing Letter, making stay of the Lord Awdley untill he should receiue answer thereof. 1642 Declar. Lds. & Comm. conc. Necess. Kingd. 7 Jan. 3 Stay is made of their Cole-ships. 1647 May Hist. Parlt. ii. iv. 73 They should take special care to make stay of all Arms and Ammunition carrying towards York. 1648 Heylin Relat. & Observ. i. 121 Major Generall Lambert had made stay of a Scotish Gentleman. 1654 E. Johnson Wonder-working Provid. 12 He will ease you of your burden by making stay of any farther resort unto you. |
† d. concr. An appliance for stopping.
Obs.| 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §3 The plough-fote..is a staye to order of what depenes the ploughe shall go. |
† 2. Control; restraint; self-control.
Obs.| 1556 J. Heywood Spider & F. xiii. 15 Stey in him selfe he toke. 1561 Norton & Sackv. Gorboduc i. ii. 307 That they, restreyned by the awe of you, May liue in compasse of well tempred staye. 1596 Danett tr. Comines (1614) 218 Yet was it much that hee had such stay of himselfe. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII, 14 Well shewing and fore-tokening the wisdome, stay, and moderation of the Kings spirit of Gouernment. |
3. A coming to a stand; a cessation of progress or action; a stop, pause, halt. Phr.
to make (a) stay.
| c 1530 Jyl of Brentford's Test. (1871) 14 Now hold your hand, and make a stay there. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. viii. 82 b, Trauailing both day and night without any rest or stay. 1586 Let. to Earl Leycester 6 She might by the stay thereof, procure the heauie displeasure of Almightie God. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 428 Trip away, make no stay. 1598 Florio, Falchi, are staies when a horse doth rest vpon his hinder parts. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 262 Among whome there was now no hoe nor stay at all of their hands. 1609 Bible (Douay) Josh. x. 12 marg., Josue did thinke if the moone moued the sunne also must necessarily moue so he obtained the stay of both. 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) 76 Yet fond man Runnes in this gulfe of sinne without all stay. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Pulley ii, When almost all was out, God made a stay. a 1637 Spottiswoode Hist. Ch. Scot. (1851) II. 62 It was night before they came thither..because of the stays she made by the way. 1641 J. Taylor (Water P.) Last Voy. A 6, With many stops, stayes, and taking leaves, wee gat to Oatlands at night. a 1648 Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII (1683) 43 At last he commands a stay. 1659 Hammond On Psalms cx. 7. 566 Souldiers..that are thirsty, but will not make stay at an Inne. a 1721 Prior Epigr. Bp. Atterbury i, Without stop or stay,..make the best of your way. 1805 Wordsw. Waggoner i. 36 And up the craggy hill ascending Many a stop and stay he makes. 1843 Ruskin Mod. Paint. I. ii. iii. i. §8 We can plunge far and farther, and without stay or end, into the profundity of space. |
† b. A cessation of hostility or dissension. Also, a means of reconciliation.
Obs.| 1563 Homilies II. xii Nativity A aaa j, A Messias, or mediatour,..whiche shoulde make intercession, and put him selfe as a staye betwene both partes, to pacifie the wrath and indignation conceaued agaynst sinne, and [etc.]. 1599 Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 172 If any stay or agreement could bee taken with the Turke, all Germany were in daunger to bee in uprore within it selfe by intestine dissention. |
† c. Astr. stay of the sun = solstice.
Obs.| 1538 Elyot Dict., Solstitium, the stay of the sonne, whan he can not be eyther hygher or lower. 1555 Eden Decades i. ii. (Arb.) 72 In no place towarde the stay of the sonne (cauled Solsticium) can the night be equall with the day. |
† d. Mus. = pause n. 3 b.
Obs.| 1667 C. Simpson Compend. Pract. Mus. 25 This Mark or Arch {pauseo}..is also set..over certain particular Notes in the middle of Songs, when (for humour) we are to insist or stay a little upon the said Notes; and thereupon it is called a Stay, or Hold. |
† e. A stop, sign in punctuation; the pause indicated by a stop.
Obs.| 1596 Coote Engl. School-m. v. (1627) 26 Those which we do call points or stayes in writing, as this marke (,)..noteth a small stay; two pricks thus (:) makes a longer stay; and one prick thus (·) is put for a ful stay. |
† 4. Delay, postponement, waiting.
to make stay of: to withhold for a time; to postpone.
Obs.| 1530 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 329 Your chauncelour shall do the semblable in another request made by his Maiestie unto him without staye tract or further stycking. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 103 If it shall notwithstanding seeme further convenient unto your L. to make stay of his acceptance. a 1592 Greene Jas. IV, iv. v. 1998, I like no stay; go write, and I will signe. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. v. iii [viii], Bounty forbids to paull our thankes with stay. 1605 Chapman All Fooles v. i. H 4, Hast, for the matter will abide no staye. 1611 Sir P. Barty in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 103 To make stay of the money lately agreed to be paid. 1627 J. Ware in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 135, I have now, after almost a yeare's stay, returned unto you (by this bearer) the MS. Life of St. Modwen. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. viii. 56 Her cause of stay was, the danger of the way. 1650 S. Clarke Eccl. Hist. i. (1654) 50 Peace will come, albeit there be a little stay for a while. 1671 Milton Samson 1536 A little stay will bring some notice hither. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 423 There is no Stock you can have Money in that will turn to better account, tho' you stay long for it; nor any thing that it can be better secured in, which I think will make amends for the Stay. |
† 5. A cause of stoppage; an obstacle, hindrance.
| a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) T vij b, I shall not drede the staies of Fortune. 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. Matt. iii 7–10 That mennes pronitie to naughtynes, beynge compassed in with these stayes, myght be refreyned from fallyng into farther inconuenyence. 1551 Robinson More's Utopia Ep. to P. Giles (1895) 3 Seynge all theyes cares, stayes and lettes were taken awaye. 1563 Googe Eglogs, etc. (Arb.) 119 Whom yf your Grace do not repuls and fynde some present staye, Vndoubtedly he wyll wyn this Realme and take vs all awaye. 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 666 The presence of the Governour is..a great stay and bridle unto them that are ill disposed. 1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence, Andria iii. i, In mora illi est, Hee is a stay, hindrance, or let to him. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows i. §20. 26 Good Iosiah was a stay of those judgements which God had threatned. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Ch. Porch iii, Not grudging, that thy lust hath bounds and staies. 1665 Dryden Ind. Queen iv. i, My Rage, like dam'd-up Streams swell'd by some stay, Shall from this Opposition get new force. |
† b. A demur, hesitation, scruple.
Obs.| 1550 Crowley Epigr. 1254 We counte hym not wyse, That seketh not by all meanes that he canne devise To take offices togither wythoute any staye. 1566 Feckenham (title) The declaration of suche Scruples, and staies of Conscience, touchinge the Othe of the Supremacy. 1567 Jewel Def. Apol. 72 If they be al Heretiques, and Schismatiques, and Despisers of Christe,..that make staie at it, or cannot receiue it, then [etc.]. |
6. The action or fact of staying or remaining in a place, continued presence; an instance of this, a period of temporary residence or continuance in a place, a sojourn.
| 1538 London in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. III. 215 We went to every place of them, and toke suche a vew and stay among them as the tyme wolde permytt. 1577–87 Harrison England ii. v. (1877) i. 120 As a testimonie of his presence and staies from time to time as he did trauell. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 328 Till I come againe, No bed shall ere be guilty of my stay. a 1601 ? Marston Pasquil & Kath. i. 165 Daughter, lay your expresse commandement vpon the stay of Master Mamon. 1601 Holland Pliny xxxi. iii. II. 408 Low grounds where there is a settling or stay of raine water fallen from higher places. 1619 in Foster Eng. Factories India (1906) 143 Having..lymited the commander 15 dayes stay there. 1635 in Verney Mem. (1907) I. 86, I do not intend to make a long stay there. 1664 D. Fleming in Extr. St. Papers rel. Friends Ser. ii. (1911) 191 The Trainband horse..are to continue here dureing the Judges stay. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 898 Let him surer barr His Iron Gates, if he intends our stay In that dark durance. 1670 W. Clarke Nat. Hist. Nitre 34 Lots Wife was only by looking Back, so small a stay, overtaken by this Artillery of Heaven. 1755 Chatham Lett. to Nephew T. Pitt xiii. (1805) 72, I have delayed writing to you in expectation of hearing farther from you upon the subject of your stay at college. 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France I. 17 Her stay in London was longer than mine in Paris. 1797 Ht. Lee Canterb. T., Old Woman's T. (1799) I. 370 St. Aubert..strenuously urged his stay. 1845 Budd Dis. Liver 270 Because the bile, during its stay in the bladder, becomes concentrated. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 108 As though their stay was not going to be a short one. 1884 Church Bacon viii. 206 It was one of man's first duties to arrange for his stay on earth according to the real laws which he could find out if he only sought for them. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 1 Sept. 3/1 Every year has added to the stay of children at school. |
† b. A place of sojourn; a fixed abode.
Obs.| 1566 Drant Hor. Sat. i. v. D i b, As nowe I am, I coulde not wyshe almoste a better staye. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxx. iv, O God, retorne, and from thy starry stay Review this vyne. 1592 Kyd Sol. & Pers. ii. i. 266 Whether shall I go? If into any stay adioyning Rhodes, They will betray me. 1894 A. Laing Misc. Poems 108 (E.D.D.) If we sud hae nae ither stay Than hell beyond the tomb. |
† c. Continuance in a state, duration.
Obs.| 1595 Spenser Col. Clout 98 Record to vs that louely lay againe: The staie whereof shall nought these eares annoy. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xv. 9 When I consider euery thing that growes Holds in perfection but a little moment:..Then the conceit of this inconstant stay Sets you most rich in youth before my sight. a 1680 Glanvill Sadducismus i. (1682) 122 For there can be no perception of the external Object, unless the Object that is to be perceived act with some stay upon that which perceiveth. 1700 Dryden Cock & Fox 675 Alas, what stay is there in human state. |
d. Staying power; power of endurance; strength; power of resistance. Now somewhat
rare.
| 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1589) 49 Prudence, Magnanimitie, and Justice are ankers of greatest stay. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iv. xi. 25 But Thame was stronger, and of better stay. 1890 Spurgeon in Voice (N.Y.) 21 Aug. 7/2 Some men are always great at beginnings; but they have no stay in them. |
7. A stationary condition, a standstill; a state of neither advance nor retrogression. Chiefly in phrases,
at or in a or one stay, rarely
at stay.
Now somewhat
arch., chiefly in echoes of the Prayer-book phrase in
quot. 1549.
| 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. cxxxvi. [cxxxii.] 379 Then the duke stode in a staye, and toke counsayle what was beste to do. 1542 in Tytler's Hist. Scot. (1864) III. 6 note, This busyness..whiche, at this present, is at such a staye, that [etc.]. 1546 T. Phaer Bk. Childr. (1553) T vij b, The pulse is incertayn, and neuer at one stay. 1549 Bk. Comm. Prayer, Burial of Dead, Man that is borne of a woman..neuer continueth in one staye. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius ii. 9 b, The king in y⊇ meane season stode at a staye. 1556 J. Heywood Spider & F. ix. 36 Here stoode they both, a while in silent stay. 1560 Gresham in Burgon Life (1839) I. 292 So that now the Quene's Majestie's credit ys at a whole steye. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 159 Then is he at a staye, he can go no further. 1595 Hunnis Life & Death Joseph 54 But Jacob yet amased was, and stood in doubtful stay. 1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence, Phormio v. viii, I am brought to such a stay that I knowe not what to doe with him. 1600 Surflet Country Farm vii. xviii. 830 [Oaks have] one hundred years to growe, one hundred to stande at a staie, and one hundred to decline and fall away. 1611 Bible Lev. xiii. 5 And beholde, if the plague in his sight be at a stay, and the plague spread not in the skinne, then [etc.]. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 1168/2, I am brought to that stay, that [etc.]. 1758 Binnell Descr. Thames 181 A River Pike grows fast till he arrives at twenty⁓four..Inches in length; then he stands a little more at stay. 1851 Meredith Love in Valley ii, Swifter she seems in her stay than in her flight. 1875 Manning Mission Holy Ghost iv. 106 We are never in one stay. 1876 Bridges Growth of Love xxvi, True only should the swift life stand at stay. 1880 Froude Bunyan ix. 151 In this world of change the point of view alters fast, and never continues in one stay. |
† b. A permanent state or condition. Chiefly in phrase in
good (quiet, etc.) stay.
Obs.| 1536 in Furnivall Ballads fr. MSS. I. 311 Then they to-gether xuld, or this tyme, a brought Inglond in-to a better stey then it is now. 1542 Lam. & Piteous Treat. in Harl. Misc. (1745) IV. 509/2 All Thynges beynge in good Ordre and Staye. 1544 Betham Precepts War i. civ. F iij, My counsayl is, to set all thynges in quyet staye, and brynge them [soldiers at variance] agayne to concorde. 1553 Respublica 735 Ye know it is no small weorke from so greate decaie..to sett all in good staighe. 1563–83 Foxe A. & M. 852/1 Moreouer..the world nowe was at another stay, then when the beleuers were all of one hart and soule. 1566 Chambrelayne in Strype's Ann. Ref. (1709) I. 489 Where he, with his Father and Mother,..had lately repaired unto him; and were in some good Stay. 1570 Buchanan Chamæleon Wks. (1892) 49 Be ye diligence and wisdom of ye regent the cuntre wes brocht to sum stay. 1575 Gammer Gurton i. i, Aske them what they ayle, or who brought them in this staye? 1580–3 Greene Mamillia Wks. (Grosart) II. 207 Hath she not promised to chaunge..the state of a Curtizan into the staie of a matron. 1616 Healey tr. Theophrastus 90 The State is at an euill stay, where more then one the Scepter sway. |
† c. to set in or at stay: to reduce to order or quiet; to settle. Also
to set a stay,
to set stays: to settle matters.
Obs.| 1538 in Lett. Suppress. Monasteries (Camden) 193 But in all thes placys I have sett steys by indenturys making, and the common sealys sequestering, so that [etc.]. 1542 Lam. & Piteous Treat. in Harl. Misc. (1745) IV. 505/1 Themperour beyng in Allmeigney, to Thentent to appease and set a staye in the Controuersyes and Dyssencyons, which are amonge the Allmeignes in Matters of Religion. 1555 T. Phaer æneid i. (1558) A ij b, But first is best the fluddes to set in staie [L. sed motos praestat componere fluctus]. 1561 Norton & Sackv. Gorboduc iii. i. 56 So shall you force Them to agree, and holde the lande in stay. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 8 He would first set such a stay in his Duchy of Normandie, that [etc.]. 1575 Churchyard Chippes (1817) 187 Such falshood raignde, and raged in the land... But by my friendes, I set these thinges in staye. 1615 Liber Depos. Archd. Colch. (MS.) 74 Finding him very weake and sicke, he asked him [the said Testator] whether he had sett things at a staye. |
8. Combinations:
stay-law U.S. a legislative enactment establishing a general moratorium;
† stay-liquor Salt-making, sea-water left by the tide, exposed in feeding-ponds for partial evaporation;
stay-maker nonce-wd., one who makes a long stay;
† stay-rig Sc. (see
quot.).
| 1880 T. M. Cooley Const. Law U.S.A. 311 The with⁓drawal of the remedy for a time by *stay laws is an impairment of the obligation of contracts. |
| 1682 J. Collins Salt & Fishery 19 This Liquor..is called *Stay-Liquor. |
| 1897 W. C. Hazlitt Four Generations II. 145 Meadows was a desperate *staymaker. |
| 1591 in A. Maxwell's Hist. Old Dundee (1884) 242 At the tails of all their rigs to make ane *stayrig upon the auld bounds of the said acres [footn. A cross ridge to stay the plough]. |
▪ IV. stay, v.1 (
steɪ)
Pa. tense and
pple. stayed (
steɪd). Forms: 5
steyyn, 6
stee,
stai, 6–7
staye,
staie,
stey(e, 7
steaye, 5–
stay.
pa. tense and pple. 5–8
stayd, 6
Sc. stayit,
-et,
steyit, 6–7
stayde,
staied,
staide, 6–9
staid, 6–
stayed.
[Prob. a. OF. (e)stai-, (e)stei-, flexional stem of ester (:—L. stāre) to stand. Cf. the earlier restay v. In
AF. the regular form of the
pres. sing. indic. was
estais,
estait; an inf.
*esteier,
*estaier may have existed in colloquial use, but has not been found; the gerund
esteaunt (three-syllables) occurs in
Boeve de Haumtone (
ed. Stimming) 2244. Eastern and North-eastern dialects of
OF. have an inf. form
esteir. Other North-eastern forms cited by Godefroy are
staieiz (2
pl. pres.),
stairont (3
pl. fut.).
The view adopted by Skeat, that the original sense was to support (see
stay v.
2), and that from this the other senses were developed in the order ‘to hold, retain, delay, abide’, cannot be said to involve any abstract improbability, but the chronology of the appearance of the senses in English is strongly unfavourable to it.]
I. intr. * To cease moving, halt.
† 1. To cease going forward; to stop, halt; to arrest one's course and stand still.
Obs. (
exc. as in b.)
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 473/1 Steyyn or steppyn of gate (v.r. stoppyn), restito, obsto. 1576 Gascoigne Philomene (Arb.) 90 She came apace, and stately did she stay. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. xxxix. 372 Whosoeuer hath receiued of this seede [stavesacre], must walke without staying. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. ii. 33 Stay you that beare the Coarse, & set it down. 1601 Holland Pliny viii. xl. I. 219 The dogges which be neere unto Nilus, lap of the riuer, running still and never stay while they are drinking, because they will give no vantage at all to be a prey unto the greedie Crocodiles. 1611 Bible Josh. x. 13 And the Sunne stood still, and the Moone stayed, vntill the people had auenged themselues vpon their enemies. 1640 tr. Verdere's Rom. of Rom. i. xxii. 96 Their Bark staying at an Island,..they went on shore. 1777 Sir W. Jones Caissa 135 With radiant feet he pierc'd the clouds nor stay'd Till in the woods he saw the beauteous maid. |
b. To stop, halt, pause
and (do somewhat), or in order
to (do something). Now somewhat
rare.
| 1577 Harrison England iii. iv. 103 in Holinshed, His gromes and gentlemen passed by it as disdaining to stoupe & take vp such a trifle: but he knowing y⊇ owner commaunded one of them to staye & take it vp. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. i. 54 Anon a carelesse Heard..iumps along by him And neuer staies to greet him. 1750 Gray Long Story 55 The Heroines..Rap'd at the door, nor stay'd to ask, But bounce into the parlour enter'd. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxviii, Emily scarcely stayed to thank him for it. 1865 Visct. Milton & W. B. Cheadle N.-W. Passage by Land viii. (1867) 120 When we stayed to camp, [we] shivered and shook as we essayed to light a fire. |
2. To cease or desist from some specified activity. Const.
from.
Obs. or
arch.| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 86 This is the purpose and meaning of them all, in generall: not to stay, till they haue procured the slaughter of Cæsar. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. vii. 15 He hearkned, and did stay from further harmes. 1611 Bible 2 Kings xiii. 18 And he smote thrise, and stayed. 1611 B. Jonson Catiline i. i, He that, building, stayes at one Floore, or the second, hath erected none. 1654 Z. Coke Logick 77 In Etymologies we must not go on without End, but must stay in some that is first. 1864 A. B. Edwards Barbara's Hist. lix, I wept, and could not stay from weeping. |
† b. To cease speaking, break off one's discourse; to pause, stop or hesitate before speaking. Said also of a discourse.
Obs.| 1551 T. Wilson Logic ii. K ij, Aesope coulde not vtter his minde at large, but dyd stammer, and staye muche in his speche. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 286 And here steyinge a whyle, he began to speake ageyne and sayde. 1571 Grindal Injunct. B iv b, Nor the Minister shall pawse or stay betweene the morning prayer, Letanie and Communion. 1600 Chester Pl. Proem 168 And after those ended, yet doth not the storie staye. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 25, I cannot here stay..to examine the particular Reasons of it. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 485 So talk'd he, while the Son of God went on And staid not, but in brief him answer'd thus. |
c. In
imp. used as an injunction to pause, arrest one's course, not to go on doing something. Hence often
= give me time to consider, decide, etc.; wait for me to make some remark or give some order.
| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 364 Stay, stand apart, I know not which is which. 1598 ― Merry W. v. v. 84 But stay, I smell a man of middle earth. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. (1601) L 4, Cle. Stay now let me see, oh signior Snow-liuer I had almost forgotten him. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xiv. vii, If you knew my father, you would never think of obtaining his consent—Stay, there is one way. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxxiii, And begone!—Yet stay. 1873 B. Harte Caldwell of Springfield in Fiddletown, etc. 81 Nothing more did I say? Stay one moment; you've heard [etc.]. |
3. Of an action, activity, process, etc.: To be arrested, to stop or cease at a certain point, not to progress or go forward.
Obs. or
arch.| 1563 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. iii. 164 The same courte..shall stey & cease vntyll the xv.{supt}{suph} daye of September next commynge. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 291 Neither did the matter stay here. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. iv. 76 And't please your Grace, here my Commission stayes. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 421 Nor yet staid the terror there. 1820 Keats Hyperion i. 295 Therefore the operations of the dawn Stay'd in their birth. |
† b. Of a line: To cease being prolonged, to terminate (
at a point).
Obs.| 1563 Shute Archit. D j b, The vprighte line, which staieth at the ouerthwart line. 1660 H. Bloome Archit. D d 1, Turne another halfe Circle, which shall stay at the place. |
** To remain stationary.
4. To remain in a place or in others' company (as opposed to going on or going away).
| 1575 Gascoigne Glasse Govt. v. ii. Wks. 1910 II. 74 Fidus. Stay a while good fellowe... Nuntius. Yea but I may not long tary. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. vii. 62 If you thinke so, then stay at home, and go not. 1600 Pory tr. Leo's Africa ix. 334 In rainie weather it so increaseth, that trauellers..are constrained to staie two or three daies by the riuers side till it be decreased. 1615 Heywood Foure Prentises i. B 3 b, If I knew where to go to warre, I would not stay in London one houre longer. 1700 T. Brown Amusem. Ser. & Com. 19 Those that won't take the Pains to follow us, may stay where they are. 1702 Sir D. Hume Diary Parl. Scot. (Bannatyne Club) 82 As to the transporting the Forces, she [the Queen] signifies her inclinations it be done, unless there be an absolute necessity for their staying. 1726 Swift Gulliver i. i, I grew weary of the sea, and intended to stay at home with my wife and family. 1753 Richardson Grandison (1754) I. l. 398 He comes for half an hour, and stays an hour. 1757 Gray Bard 101 Stay, oh stay! nor thus forlorn Leave me unbless'd. 1832 H. Martineau Homes Abroad i. 18 His wife seemed utterly indifferent whether she went or staid. 1849 M. Arnold Forsaken Merman 20 Mother dear, we cannot stay! 1897 Hall Caine Christian x, If you're badly bored we'll not stay long. |
b. contextually. To be allowed to remain; to be left in (undisturbed) residence or tenancy.
| 1765 Bickerstaff Maid of Mill ii. ii. 27, I am determined farmer Giles shall not stay a moment on my estate, after next quarter day. |
c. To remain
and (do something).
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. iv. 47 Stay, and breath awhile. 1601 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. v. iv. 2237 Nay stay a while and helpe me to content. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. i. ii, ‘You will stay and take some tea, Mr. Sheringham,’ said Lovell. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Valerie's Fate v, ‘I need not go, I suppose?’ ‘No! I wish you would stay and talk.’ |
d. With inf.: To remain or tarry in order
to (do something). Also
to stay to (dinner, etc.).
| 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iv. iv. 66 Away, I say: stayest thou to vexe me here. 1663 Patrick Pilgrim xxii. (1687) 229 If you mean to finish your journey, stay not to listen to their tales. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 31 The Ale-Wives tickle him in the Gills with the Title of Captain, which makes him oft-times stay to get drunk in their Houses, out of pure Joy and Gratitude. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. ii. xcv, Thou hast ceased to be! Nor stay'd to welcome here thy wanderer home. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxvii, Some hilding fellow he must be, who dared not stay to assert his claim to the tourney prize which chance had assigned him. 1908 S. E. White Riverman viii, Your friend seems a nice-appearing young man... Wouldn't he stay to dinner? |
e. with
advs., as
to stay away,
stay behind,
stay down,
stay in,
stay on,
stay out,
stay up. Also
to stay over (
orig. U.S.): to stop overnight.
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, ii. ii. 154 Towards Ludlow then, for we will not stay behinde. 1622 J. Taylor (Water P.) Shilling B 5, Whilst all the Drawers must stay vp and waite Vpon these fellowes be it ne're so late. 1664 in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 236 My fathar stais so long a wae. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 120 ¶14 In Winter..she grows more assiduous in her Attendance, and stays away but half the Time. 1847 Tennyson Princess Prol. 176 We seven stay'd at Christmas up to read. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 341 They might come if they liked, and they might stay away if they liked. 1883 J. Brinsley-Richards Seven Years at Eton x. 98 Some⁓times Blazes had a lazy fit, and put himself on the sick list for a day. This was called ‘stay-out’, for the reason that one had to stay in. Ibid., One day it happened that I was ‘staying out’ on the same day as Blazes. 1884, etc. [see over adv. 9 b]. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Valerie's Fate vi, I must go with you. I feel as if I could not bear to stay behind! 1895 Kipling Day's Work (1898) 175 She had ‘stayed down three hot weathers’, as the saying is, because her brother..could not afford the expense of her keep at even a cheap hill⁓station. 1901 Athenæum 27 July 121/1 The habit of frequent ‘staying out,’ Etonian for staying in, on the score of feeble health. 1904 E. H. Coleridge Life & Corr. Ld. Coleridge I. iv. 58 Friends..who wrote to him during the vacations and when he was obliged to ‘stay down’, owing to prolonged ill-health. 1911 A. Plummer Churches Brit. bef. A.D. 1000 I. iv. 122 Wilfrid made the grave mistake of staying on in Gaul. 1981 E. A. Taylor Cable Car Murder (1983) xviii. 130 We had a satisfying visit. I stayed over, and she took me to the train the next morning. |
f. U.S. (See
quot.)
| 1889 Farmer Americanisms s.v., Lovers stay with one another when courting. |
5. Of a thing: To remain (in a place or position); to remain (as opposed to being lost, changing its nature, etc.). Now somewhat
rare exc. in
to stay with: to remain in the mind or memory.
| 1593 Tell-Trothes N.Y. Gift (1876) 5 A lesson learned with stroakes, staies with the scholler. 1639 G. Plattes Discov. Subterr. Treas. 29 No royall Mettall will stay in the Cinder, but sinke down into the Lead, through an attractiue vertue betwixt them. 1663 Patrick Pilgrim xxviii. ¶1 Having at last overcome the excess of it [sc. his joy], and dissembled it also while it staid as well as he could. a 1827 Wordsw. Somnamb. 62 Delightful blossoms for the May Of absence! but they will not stay, Born only to depart. 1942 A. Woollcott Let. 26 May (1946) 260, I want to tell you that seldom has anything I have heard stayed with me like your reading of that first poem in the Spoon River Anthology. 1973 Christian Science Monitor 12 July 19/4 On the way home that stayed with me, ‘The whole world needs mothering’. |
b. Of food, etc.: To be retained by the stomach after swallowing. Also (
U.S. colloq.) to give lasting satisfaction to hunger.
| 1643 Steer tr. Exp. Chyrurg. ix. 43 By reason of the Childs unpatience I could not make the Medicine stay. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 472, I took a Draught of Water without Sugar, and that stay'd with me. 1894 Fiske Holiday Stor. (1900) 128 ‘No,’ replied the boy... ‘No; stew's good, but they don't stay wid yer. Kin I have some⁓think solid?’ |
† c. To remain adhering
to.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1684 R. Waller Nat. Exper. 45 We apply'd it to several pieces of Straw, which in the Descent of the Mercury stayed to the sides of the Glass. |
6. With predicative extension: To remain in the specified condition.
| 1573–80 Tusser Husb. (1878) 11 To staie amis, not hauing this. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 348 Ile tel you..who Time gallops withal, and who he stands stil withall... Who staies it stil withal? 1600 Pory tr. Leo's Africa i. 20 That this their meate may not stay long vndigested in their stomackes, they sup off the foresaid broth. 1640 Suckling Ballade upon Wedding 38 Her finger was so small, the Ring Would not stay on which he did bring, It was too wide a Peck. 1855 Lynch Rivulet lvii. vi, No heart that desponds Desponding need stay. 1865 Ruskin Eth. Dust iv. (1883) 70, I can bend them up and down and they stay bent. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. ii. iii. 121 She grows not old, stays ever young and warm. |
b. to stay put: to remain where or as placed; to remain fixed or steady; also
fig. (of persons, etc.).
colloq. (
orig. U.S.).
| 1843 New Mirror 23 Sept. 385/2 And now we have put her in black and white, where she will ‘stay put’. 1848 Bartlett Dict. Amer. s.v. Put, To stay put, to remain in order; not to be disturbed. A vulgar expression. 1864 M. Cummins Haunted Hearts I. iv. 46 This curl sticks right out straight; couldn't you put this pin in for me, so that it would stay put? 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 248 He has a prodigious talent, to use our Yankee phrase, of staying put. 1891 ‘L. Malet’ Wages of Sin iv. v. 217 It takes a lot of latent strength to sit, either mentally or physically, really still. Not to fidget. To ‘stay put’, in short. 1924 J. Buchan Three Hostages vii. 102 He's able enough; but he won't stay put, and that makes him pretty well useless. 1936 F. Clune Roaming round Darling xv. 139 Here, for the time being, Sturt must ‘stay put’, while the Poet and I begin rolling down the Darling. 1959 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Aug. 3/8 Fire Chief Dawson told him to stay put until the car could be pulled away safely. 1978 R. Busby Garvey's Code xii. 159, I keep the gun. And you stay put. |
† c. To remain without specific definition
in a general class.
Obs. (
nonce-use.)
| 1592 West 1st Pt. Symbol. i. xii. (1594) A 3 b, Named Contracts, be those which haue a cause by law defined, and they are called by proper names. The same also be termed certain... Besides these all the reste are vncertaine, as steying in that their generall appellation or name. |
7. With emphasis or contextual colouring:
a. To tarry or linger where one is; to delay (as opposed to going on). Chiefly with negative.
Cf. sense 4 d.
| ? a 1500 London Lyckpeny ii. (MS. Harl. 367) Yet for all that I stayd not longe, Tyll to the kynges bench I was come. 1585 Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. vi. 4 b, [He] was again sent..to the King to aduertise him of our arriual, who stayed not, but straightwayes ther came with him diuers other Chiaous, captaines and Ianissaries to receiue the Ambassadour. 1611 Bible Josh. x. 19 And stay you not, but pursue after your enemies. Ibid., 1 Sam. xx. 38 And Ionathan cryed after the ladde, Make speed, haste, stay not. 1616 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. v. 112 His eye deceiued mingles his colours wrong, There strikes too little, and here stayes too long. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxi. 196 Husband, stay not [Jam licet venias]: a bride within Coucheth ready. |
b. To stand one's ground, stand firm (as opposed to fleeing or budging). Now
rare.
| 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. iii. 50 And giue them leaue to flye, that will not stay. 1597 Lok Sundry Chr. Pass. i. liii, But yet (in hope of grace from thee) I stay, And do not yeeld, although my courage quaile. 1851 Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. i. 1082 Who, born the fair side of the Alps, will budge, When Dante stays, when Ariosto stays, When Petrarch stays for ever? |
† c. Of a thing: To linger, be long in coming or beginning.
Obs.| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iii, Why staies the doome of death? 1639 Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 355 If the good theeves helpe had stay'd a little longer, it is likely that it had come too late. |
8. To reside or sojourn in a place for a longer or shorter period; to sojourn or put up
with a person as his guest.
| 1554 in Tytler Eng. Edw. VI & Mary (1839) II. 410 From Villa Franca unto St. James,..where he stayeth about two days. 1617 Acct. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 214 He stayed at Rippon one night. 1666 H. Jackson in Extr. S.P. rel. Friends Ser. iii. (1912) 248, I travailed Seaven miles that morneing, and then stayed at a friends house, intending in a short time, to have passed on my journey. 1674 Essex Papers (Camden) I. 288, I will come over post and stay a month w{supt}{suph} Essex. 1823 A. Clarke Mem. Wesley Fam. 514 While she staid with her uncle. 1831 Society I. 287 She had hoped a very lovely girl staying in the house, would be a counter-charm to the other. 1847 Helps Friends in C. i. viii. 121 It was arranged..that Ellesmere should come and stay a day or two with me. 1883 Ruskin Art of Eng. 24 Two English ladies..were staying at the same hotel. 1905 E. Glyn Viciss. Evangeline 162, I don't think Park Street is the place for you to stay. |
b. To dwell, lodge, reside (permanently or regularly).
Sc.,
S.Afr.,
India, and
U.S.| 1754 E. Burt Lett. N. Scot. (1818) I. 20, I was told that I must..inquire for such a launde (or building), where the gentleman stayd, at the third stair, that is, three stories high. 1800 Monthly Mag. I. 322 [Scotticisms], He stays in the Canongate, means, He lives in that suburb. a 1915 Mod. (Sc.) Mr. A. moved last Whitsunday; I don't know where he stays now. a 1915 Mod. (Cape Colony: communicated.) Englishman. Who lived in that house last? Colonial. Oh, Mr. Brown stayed there. 1951 Amer. Speech XXVI. 75/1 ‘Do you stay here?’ In common Negro parlance stay is used for ‘live’ but is heard otherwise. 1959 A. Fullerton Yellow Ford v. 45 ‘Would you care to stay round here, man?’ I had not caught on, at first, to her meaning: the verb ‘stay’ is used in South Africa when in England we'd say ‘live’. 1962 W. Faulkner Reivers i. 13 Mr Wimbush stays a solid eight miles from town. 1980 D. Moraes Mrs Gandhi p. xiii, In March 1977..my wife..and I went to see her in New Delhi, at 1 Safdarjang Road, the house where she had stayed since she first became Prime Minister in 1966. |
c. to come to stay: To become permanent or established, to come into regular use or recognition; to assume a secure position in public favour or as meeting a public need.
colloq. Similarly,
to be here to stay.
| 1863 A. Lincoln Let. to Conkling 26 Aug. in E. McPherson Polit. Hist. U.S. Rebell. (1864) 336, I hope it [sc. peace] will come soon, and come to stay. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 9 May 2/1 Those dreadful [advertisement] boards—their dimensions are 18 ft. by 6 ft.—have, as the Yankees put it, ‘come to stay.’ 1901 Athenæum 13 Apr. 455/1 The issue..of Byron's letters will leave very little doubt..that Lord Byron as a letter-writer has ‘come to stay’. 1936 M. Mitchell Gone with Wind xli. 739 Everyone knew hard times were here to stay. 1947 [see post-industrial s.v. post- B. 1 b]. 1966 Listener 5 May 661/3 It's a small question, though, when viewed against the more important fact that Mahler is indubitably here, and here to stay. 1969 Ibid. 31 July 135/1 In all the present uncertainties about the future of radio, one thing seems certain: local radio is here to stay, and we shall have more of it. 1971 J. Wainwright Dig Grave 85 ‘I don't go for them [sc. automatic gears]. They'll kill real driving.’.. ‘They're here to stay, mate, whether you go for 'em, or not.’ 1976 Guardian 17 Apr. 13/8 Multinationals are here to stay. |
9. To remain inactive or quiet; to wait (without doing anything or making progress); to put off action (
until).
Cf. stay for, 14 b. ?
Obs.| a 1550 Image Ipocr. iii. 27 in Skelton's Wks. (1843) II. 433 Some be still and stey, And hope to haue a daye. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. xvi. 216 All the which thinges they haue euer to theyr powers resisted, and ofte desired the Archebishop, that he woulde staye vntyll the counsell. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. i. ii. 131 Madam: dinner is ready, and your father staies. 1621 H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 125 The booke of the Colleccions of the presidents not yett bounde. Whether you wyll use the booke as yt is, or staye untill to-morrowe? 1625 Bacon Ess., Delays, Fortune is like the Market; where many times, if you can stay a little, the Price will fall. 1640 Suckling Let. Fragm. Aur. (1648) 91 Nor must he stay to act till his people desire. a 1703 Burkitt On N.T., Luke ii. 28 Though God stays long before he fulfils his promises, he certainly comes at last with a double reward for our expectation. 1751 Chesterfield Lett. III. ccliv. 166, I told you in a former letter..that I should stay till I received the patterns pitched upon by your ladies. |
† 10. Of a business or other matter: To be deferred or postponed for a season; to be kept waiting, be allowed to wait.
Obs.| 1642 tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. v. §335. 148 Execution shall stay during the Terme of yeares. 1680 Otway Orphan i. iv, The time has been When business might have stay'd and I been heard. 1728 Swift Jrnl. Modern Lady 93 The footman, in his usual phrase, Comes up with ‘Madam, dinner stays.’ |
† 11. a. To scruple, be in doubt, raise difficulties (
at).
b. To delay
in (doing something).
c. To hesitate, delay, be slow, scruple
to (do something).
d. To refrain
from.
Obs.| 1533 More Apol. xxii. 135 b, At some of them [prelates proposed to be replaced by laymen] they stayed and stakered. 1539 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 174 It is not to be doubted, but whenne all the rest shulde be agreed, no man wold styck nor staye for any parte concerning her beautie and goodnes but rather haue more then contentement. 1551 R. Robinson tr. More's Utopia i. (1895) 83 Whyles they all staye at the chyefeste dowte of all, what to doo in the meane tyme with England. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius ix. 192 Whye doest thou staye in riddyng me quickelye out of this payne? 1583 Babington Commandm. (1590) 287 Their bolde speaking is not euer sounde proouing, and therefore wee stay to beleeue them. 1599 Porter Angry Wom. Abingt. (1841) 34 Mal. Do you heare, mother? would you stay from pleasure When yee haue minde to it?.. Mis. Bar. Well, lustie guts, I meane to make ye stay, And set some rubbes in your mindes smothest way. c 1605 Rowley Birth Merl. v. ii. 46 Why do we stay to binde those Princely browes With this Imperial Honor? 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 31 Which though I stay not to confesse ere any aske. |
12. Sport. To last, hold out, exhibit powers of endurance in a race or run. Also, to hold out for (a specified distance). [? Derived from sense 7 b.]
| 1834 Darvill Race Horse (1846) II. 44 If he finds that his horses can go faster and stay longer at the pace by being drawn fine. 1860 Rous in Baily's Mag. I. 18 There is another popular notion that our horses cannot now stay four miles. 1871 M. Collins Marq. & Merch. III. iv. 114 Such a galloper—and can't he stay! 1874 Slang Dict. 309 Stay, to exhibit powers of endurance at walking, running, rowing, etc. 1889 The Pauline VIII. 39 The Indian Civil boat made a good race of it for half the course but could not stay. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 841 [Alcohol] may enable a man ‘to spurt’ but not ‘to stay’. |
b. To keep up
with (a competitor in a game, a race, etc.).
colloq. (
orig. U.S.). Also
fig., to concentrate on, to apply oneself to, to continue with.
| 1887 F. Francis Jun. Saddle & Mocassin 145 Sam'll ‘stay with em as long as he's got a check. Ibid. 177 But they couldn't bluff the old man off; he stayed with them. 1894 Outing XXIV. 342/2, I determined upon a course which would in the end enable me to score my elk, and that was simply to ‘stay with it.’ 1956 H. Kurnitz Invasion of Privacy i. 12 I gave you an order. Stay with it. 1961 ‘A. A. Fair’ Stop at Red Light (1962) vii. 108 That adds up, Donald. Stay with it. You're doing fine. 1969 Guardian 15 July 7/1 These astronauts..have an amazing capability to stay with their tasks. 1976 ‘J. Ross’ I know what it's like to Die xxv. 158 I've got to stay with it [sc. a police inquiry]. I can't just drop it. 1982 Times 6 Feb. 15 (heading) Fed stays with its tight money policy. |
13. Poker. ‘To come in when an ante has been raised’ (
Cent. Dict.); also
to stay in.
to stay out, to go out of the game.
| 1882 Poker; How to play it 8 If a number of players have gone in, it is best generally for the ante-man to make good and go in, even with a poor hand, because half his stake is already up, and he can therefore stay in for half as much as the others have had to put up. Ibid. 12 Everybody stayed out except one man. 1897 R. F. Foster Compl. Hoyle 183 (Poker) Suppose there has been no straddle, and that all conclude to stay, as it is called. |
14. to stay for ―.
a. To remain or wait in a place for (a person or thing); to remain and take part in or witness (a meal, ceremony, etc.); to await the coming of.
| 1554 in Tytler Eng. Edw. VI & Mary (1839) II. 410 And so to the Groyne..where he will stay only for a good wind. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iii. i. 382 Thy Master staies for thee at the North gate. 1628 Digby Voy. Mediterr. (Camden) 9 But they steyed for us and made readie for fight. 1763 Bickerstaff Love in Village ii. ix, Well, sir, will you read this letter,..it is just brought by a servant, who stays for an answer. 1796 M. Robinson Angelina I. 270 We shall stay for you in the wilderness. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. ii. ix, ‘Come, Doctor,’ said Lady Frances, ‘stay for coffee.’ |
† b. To wait or tarry for (a person or thing) before doing or beginning to do something. Sometimes contextually, to be compelled to wait for.
Obs.| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. i. 314 Come, gentle M. Slender, come; we stay for you. 1625 Bacon Ess., Truth (Arb.) 499 What is Truth; said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an Answer. 1651 Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxvi. 150 The Civill Law takes away that Liberty, in all cases where the protection of the Law may be safely stayd for. 1704 Cibber Careless Husb. ii. i. 22 Dinner's serv'd, and the Ladies stay for us. 1705 H. Blackwell Engl. Fencing-Master 16 If the Hand stays for the Foot, the Thrust is much slower. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 126 You see, sir John, we stay'd for you, as one Horse does for another. |
† c. contextually. (To be forced) to wait for (something one wishes or hopes to get).
Obs.| 1592 Murther J. Brewen in Kyd's Wks. (1901) 288 [He] requested that he might haue his gifts againe, to whom disdainfully she made answere that he should stay for it. 1780 Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 10 July, For all this I must stay, but life will not stay. |
† d. said of a thing.
Obs.| 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster ii. ii. Wks. (1616) 291 There's a slight banquet staies within for you. 1603 Dekker Wonderf. Yeare F 4, Another poore wretch..throwne..into a graue vpon a heape of carcases, that stayd for their complement. 1662 J. Dixon in Extr. S.P. rel. Friends Ser. ii. (1911) 144 You are desired to seend your Collecttion y{supt} was for London with speed for it steayes for youres and mosdals. |
† 15. to stay of ―. To be delayed by, be kept waiting by, have to wait for (a person or thing).
Obs. [
Cf. midl. dial. ‘to wait of’
= to wait for.]
| 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 1168/2, I stay of this; Hoc mihi moræ est. Ibid., Fetch the Midwife that we may not stay of her; Obstetricem accerse, ne in mora nobis fiet. Ibid. 1169/1, I will tell them they shall not stay of us; Illis dicam nullam esse in nobis moram. |
16. to stay on,
upon ―.
† a. To wait for (a person); to await, await the issue of (an event, circumstance); to attend on, be subject to (a person's will or pleasure, etc.).
Obs.| 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus Ep. to King b iij, Where as nowe the scholers..haue no maner remedy, but vtterly and holly to staye vpon theyr maysters mouth. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 20 You haue done wrong to this my honest friend, Who but for staying on our Controuersie, Had hoisted saile, and put to sea to day. 1601 ― All's Well iii. v. 48, I thanke you, and will stay vpon your leisure. 1603 ― Meas. for M. iv. i. 47, I haue a Seruant comes with me along That staies vpon me. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xiv. 308 We little need to stay On his assistance, if we would our owne strengths call to field. |
† b. To dwell upon (a topic, subject); to sustain or stress (a note in singing). Of the eye: To rest upon, be arrested by (an object of vision).
Obs.| c 1580 Lodge Repl. Gosson's Sch. Abuse 24 But other matter call [sic] me and I must not staye vpon this onely. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iv. 24 My life vpon't, yong though thou art, thine eye Hath staid vpon some fauour that it loues. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xxiii. §22. 97, I haue staied the longer vpon this precept..because it is a maine part by it selfe. 1667 [see stay n.3 3 d]. |
II. quasi-trans. and trans. uses derived from I.
17. quasi-trans. To remain for, to remain and participate in or assist at (a meal, ceremony, prayers, etc.); to remain throughout or during (a period of time).
= stay for, 14 a.
| 1570 in Kempe Losely MSS. (1836) 234 At the tyme poynted he cam and stayd the service, from the beginning to th'end. 1599 Hayward 1st Pt. Life Hen. IV, 26 The rest of the lords departed, except the Earle of Darby, who stayed supper with the King. 1661 P. Henry Diaries & Lett. (1882) 85, I stay'd y⊇ sermon. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 29 Nov. 1661, My Lord Mordaunt, with whom I staid the night. 1778 F. Burney Evelina (1791) I. xx. 87 We intended to stay the farce. 1786 ― Diary 27 July (1842–6) III. 37 At the dessert I was very agreeably surprised by the entrance of Sir Richard Jebb, who stayed coffee. 1808 Jane Austen Lett. (1884) I. 357 She stayed the Sacrament, I remember, the last time that you and I did. 1832 Moore Mem. (1854) VI. 244 Went to Bowood, and stayed prayers. 1862 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xi. iii. (1872) IV. 51 A certain Colonel..contrives to get invited to stay dinner. 1888 G. Gissing Life's Morning II. xi. 135 I'm obliged to ask them to stay tea. |
b. to stay the course: to hold out to the end of a race. Freq.
fig.| 1885 Daily Tel. 11 Nov. 3/7 Doubts are also entertained..concerning her [sc. a horse's] ability to stay the course. 1916 Times 8 May 9/1 If we are to ‘stay the course’ set before us, other sections must be prepared for greater sacrifices. 1939 A. Huxley After Many a Summer i. viii. 103 ‘Do you suppose you'd still be a scholar and a gentleman?’.. ‘One will certainly have stopped being a gentleman,’ he answered. ‘One's begun to stop even now, thank heaven.’ ‘But the scholar will stay the course?’ 1966 Listener 10 Mar. 365/3 There was much to be learnt from this programme—about metal fatigue, for instance—for those who could stay the course. 1983 Verbatim IX. iv. 16/2 When President Reagan exhorted Senators and Congressmen to stay the course, the actual meaning of his words was the opposite of his intended meaning. |
18. quasi-trans. with
out.
a. To remain to the end of; to remain and witness the end of. Also, to remain beyond the limit of, outstay.
| 1639 Fuller Holy War iv. xxi. 206 By this time Lewis in Syria had stayed out the death and buriall of all his hopes to receive succour from his own countrey. 1768 Lady M. Coke Jrnl. 27 Feb., Went to the new Opera:..upon the whole dull—not that I staid it out. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1872) I. 2 It seemed as if we had stayed our English welcome out. |
b. To remain longer than (another), outstay.
| 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xiii. iv, The company had now staid so long, that Mrs. Fitzpatrick plainly perceived they all designed to stay out each other. |
19. trans. To wait for, await (a person, his coming, an event, etc.); to wait upon, serve (a person's leisure); to abide, sustain (a question, onset). Now
arch. (
= stay for 14 a, b,
stay upon 16 a).
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. xviii. §6 Never staying either judge, trumpet, or his owne launce, [he] drew out his sword. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. iv. 40 Ne thou for better hope, if thou his presence stay. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 235, I will not stay thy questions, let me go. 1592 ― Ven. & Ad. 894 They basely flie and dare not stay the field. a 1625 Fletcher Elder Bro. ii. i, Like a blushing Rose that staies the pulling. a 1625 ― M. Thomas v. ii, Get you afore and stay me at the Chapel. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 22 Neither doe they stay our leisure to let us take a full view of them. 1705 tr. Bosman's Guinea 472, I was..desired to stay the arrival of their King. 1811 Spirit Publ. Jrnls. (1813) XVI. 7 They would not stay our arrival; for, the moment they saw us, they made off. 1864 Realm 8 June 1 The overhurry of the messenger (who had stayed no question) induced suspicion. 1888 Stevenson Black Arrow 6 There is a fight toward,..and my lord stays a reinforcement. |
b. = to stay to make or offer.
poet.| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 193, I cannot stay thanks⁓giuing. Ibid. iv. ii. 147 Stay not thy complement, I forgiue thy duetie, adue. |
III. trans. To stop, arrest, check.
20. To detain, hold back, stop (a person or thing); to check or arrest the progress of, bring to a halt; to hinder from going on or going away; to keep in a fixed place or position. Now only
literary.
| [c 1440 ? see 1.] 1532 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 351 Ye lytell Regarding the kynges auctoryte and Commyssyon have stayed dyuers masons and woorkmen abowte you. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Job xxxviii. 11 And here shal it staye thy proud waues. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 136 Than the tounes men..stayed the reste that would lykewise have invaded. 1562 Gresham in Burgon Life (1839) II. 9 To wryte me your pleasure whether I shall send you Doctor Mount's letters in post, or to stey them bye me till the ordinary post goeth. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 310 A running streame is stayed by weedes and shallownesse. 1627 Lisander & Calista ii. 31 While the rain stayes you here. 1635 R. N. Camden's Hist. Eliz. i. 20 An infinite masse of money being stayed at home, which was wont to be exported daily to Rome. 1654 Bramhall Just Vind. ii. (1661) 25 They..are like men running down a steep hill that cannot stay themselves. 1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 255 He stay'd me to dine with him. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 14 Nov. 1672, This businesse staide me in London almost a weeke. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ., Fille de Chambre (1778) II. 3 As I had nothing to stay me in the shop, we both walk'd out. 1782 Cowper John Gilpin 37 So three doors off the chaise was stay'd. 1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. xiv, The plough was in mid-furrow staid. 1830 Tennyson Poems 96 Thou shalt not wander hence to-night, I'll stay thee with my kisses. 1873 Helps Anim. & Mast. vi. 152 Among the reeds, where, at the moment, we had stayed the boat. 1902 Munsey's Mag. XXVI. 596/1 Attacking and withdrawing again before any force could be mobilized to stay him. |
b. const. from.
| 1591 H. Smith Serm., Restitut. Nebuchad. 15 Therefore when he knew this, nothing could stay him from his kingdome, no more then they could stay him in his kingdome before. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. vii. §7. 32 b, They are indeed but Remoraes and hinderances to stay and slugge the Shippe from furder sayling. 1618 W. Lawson Orch. & Gard. ii. (1623) 4 Make Trenches by degrees,..so as the Water may be staied from passage. 1703 Evelyn Diary 21 Nov., The wet and uncomfortable weather staying us from church this morning. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxxiii, O sweet new-year delaying long..What stays thee from the clouded noons? |
† c. refl. To abide (in a place); to take up a settled residence. Similarly in
pass. Obs.| 1558 T. Phaer æneid viii. (1562) Bb iiij, Than at Etruria sore affright did settling stay them selues, & in y⊇ field their camp haue pight. 1563 Homilies II. Place & Time of Prayer i. 139 b, They were not stayed in any place, but were in a continuall peregrination and wandering. 1579–80 North Plutarch, Romulus (1595) 20 Some thinke that the Pelasgians..in the end did stay themselues in that place where it [Rome] was new builded. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 67 For nothing would she lenger there be stayd, Where so loose life..Was vsd of Knights and Ladies seeming gent. |
d. poet. To take prisoner; to hold in confinement or captivity.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. x. 40 And captiues to redeeme with price of bras From Turkes and Sarazins, which them had stayd. 1872 Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 600 Three knights Defend the passings,..and a fourth..holds her stay'd In her own castle. |
21. To render motionless or keep immovable; to fix, hold fast.
| 1627 May Lucan ii. (1631) C8, Each Galley doe foure anchors stay. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 8 Bring the Index of the Moon to the West-by-North Point, staying it there. 1811 Wordsw. Misc. Sonn. i. ix, 1 Praised be the Art whose subtle power could stay Yon cloud, and fix it in that glorious shape. 1855 Tennyson Daisy 23 Till, in a narrow street and dim, I stay'd the wheels at Cogoletto. 1868 ― Lucretius 257 My golden work in which I told a truth That stays the rolling Ixionian wheel. |
† b. To cause to rest or remain
on something; to rest or fix (the eyes)
on an object.
Obs.| a 1586 Sidney Ps. xxx. xi, Lord, heare, lett mercy thine be staid On me. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Elixer iii, A man that looks on glasse, On it may stay his eye; Or if he pleaseth, through it passe, And then the heav'n espie. 1674 Playford Skill Mus. ii. 102 Your second and third Fingers staid upon the Hair, by which you may poise and keep up your Bow. |
22. a. To detain or delay (a reader).
| 1578 Timme Calvin on Gen. 261 To the end the disordered division of the Chapters may not trouble or stay the readers. 1653 H. More Conject. Cabbal. 93 Not to stay you with too tedious a Prologue to the matter in hand. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. iii. v. §16, I was willing to stay my Reader on an Argument, that appears to me new. |
b. To arrest (the attention).
| 1639 Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 193 His consideration was no lesse stayed by her vertue, then his sences charmed by her beauty. |
† c. To stop the course of, terminate (a line).
| 1563 Shute Archit. ciij, The vpright line..which stayeth that lyne which is drawen ouerthwart the pillor. |
23. To prevent, hinder, stop (a person or thing) from doing something; to check, restrain. Const.
from,
† of a course of action, etc.);
† to (with inf.);
† but that. Now
rare or
poet.| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 123 b, Kynge Ferdinando..commaunded the lawe to cease..but that woulde not staye them. 1562 T. Cooper Answ. Def. Truth xii. 85 b, If that would haue stayed you from wrytinge. 1566 Acts Gen. Assemb. Kirk Scot. (Maitland Club) i. 86 Diverse of our deirest brethren..by you are stayed to promote the kingdome of Chryst. 1574 A. L. Calvin's Foure Serm. i, Nothing staied him but that he set up the true and pure religion. 1574 in Maitl. Club Misc. I. 104 Sene the tyme that thai war steyit of thair said pretendit mariage. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 191/2 Repagulum,..the barre which staieth horses from running. 1611 Bible Haggai i. 10 Therefore the heauen ouer you is stayed from dew, and the earth is staied from her fruite. a 1628 Preston New Covt. (1630) 87 When he stayed himselfe, and did it not, how did the Lord bring it to passe with out him? 1630 E. Pagitt Christianogr. i. ii. (1636) 73 This made St. Augustine..to write his bookes..to stay his countriemen from Idolatrie. 1846 H. G. Robinson Odes of Horace ii. viii, Lest your bewitching air should stay Their husbands from their duty. 1852 M. Arnold Empedocles i. ii. 125 Rivers are dried, winds stay'd. |
† b. refl. To check oneself; to desist from something one is doing or intending to do; to cease speaking, writing, etc.
Obs.| 1560 Bible (Geneva) Haggai i. 10 Therefore the heauen ouer you staied it self from dewe. 1561 Clough in Burgon's Life Gresham (1889) I. 410 Herein I am somwatt tedyus: desyryng you to pardone me, for beyng ownse enteryd into the matter, I collde nott stee mysellfe. 1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence, Adelph. iv. iv, Neuerthelesse I staied my selfe, least I should vtter any thing of my brother to that babler. |
c. with object a limb or activity of the body, a weapon, etc.;
esp. to stay (one's own or another's) hand (chiefly
fig., to cease or cause to cease from attack or working). Now somewhat
arch.| 1560 Bible (Geneva) Dan. iv. 35 And none can stay his hand, nor say vnto him, What doest thou? 1579 Gosson Apol. Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 75 But I stay my handes till I see his booke. 1581 A. Hall Iliad iv. 65 The golden buckle of my belt..hath surely stayde the blow. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. ii. 104 Stay, stay thy hands, thou art an Amazon. a 1600 Flodden F. iii. (1664) 25 Himself set forth in seemly aray, And neither stint nor staid his foot. 1800 Wordsw. Pet Lamb 16 But ere ten yards were gone her footsteps did she stay. 1877 Tyndall in Daily News 2 Oct. 2/5 That power did not work with delusions, nor will it stay its hand when such are removed. 1880 R. G. White Every-Day Eng. xx. 303 My tongue is tied and my hand is stayed. |
† d. To cause (a bell) to cease ringing.
Obs.| a 1593 Marlowe Massacre at Paris 452 And now stay That bel that to y⊇ deuils mattins rings. 1655 F. Raworth Jacob's Ladder 35 But Satan, stay the bels. |
24. † a. Law. To hold back, refuse to release or cancel (a bond).
Obs.| 1578 Whetstone 2nd Pt. Promos & Cass. ii. v, Nay mary, the same I would gladly pay, But my bonde for the forfeyt he doth stay. |
† b. To keep back or withhold (a person) temporarily
from (something due).
Obs.| 1643 Baker Chron., Hen. VII, 153 His brother Henry Duke of Yorke was stayed from the title of Prince of Wales, the space of halfe a yeer, till to women it might appear, whether the Lady Katherine, the Relict of Prince Arthur, were with childe, or no. |
25. To stop, arrest, delay, prevent (an action or process, something which is begun or intended). Freq. in legal parlance.
| 1525 St. Papers Hen. VIII, VI. 513 On the morow..Your Highnes letters..arryvyd here, whiche stayde our goyng to thEmperour, unto we had perused them over. 1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 27 §114 Item that no execucion of any iudgement geuen..be staied or deferred. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 114 Neither lette rayne nor thunder..stay thy iourney. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 78 Retreat is made, and Execution stay'd. 1665 Howard & Dryden Ind. Queen iii. i, If you would have this Sentence staid. 1690 Dryden Amphitryon iv. i, You had best stay dinner, till he has proved himself to be Amphitryon in form of law. 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. xiv. 227 The courts of equity..will grant an injunction or order to stay waste, until the defendant shall have put in his answer. 1796 Burke Regic. Peace i. Wks. 1808 VIII. 186 When a neighbour sees a new erection, in the nature of a nuisance, set up at his door,..the judge..has a right to order the work to be staid. 1855 Prescott Philip II, I. i. ix. 141 He marched against the Turks and stayed the tide of Ottoman inroad in Hungary. 1856 in Hurlstone & Norman's Exch. Rep. (1857) I. 494, I do order..that until such indemnity be given all further proceedings be stayed. 1861 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. III. clxiii. 179 To stay printing, there⁓fore, is the object of all who object to the knowledge it is to dispense. 1913 D. Bray Life-Hist. Brahui iv. 53 A death in the household..will stay a wedding forty days. |
b. To arrest the course or growth of (a disease, something noxious or destructive).
| 1563 T. Gale Antidot. i. i. 1 We staye by them [sc. medicines] the fluxe of humours in their beginning. 1598 T. Bastard Chrestol. vii. xx. 169 So in fayre faces moulds somtimes arise, Which serue to stay the surfeyte of our eyes. 1611 Bible 2 Sam. xxiv. 21 That the plague may be stayed from the people. 1653 T. Brugis Vade Mecum (ed. 2) 61 It stayeth the cough. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets vii. 195 When the righteous man appears, who performs an act of retributive justice, then the curse is stayed. 1913 Standard 14 July 12/1 He was the first to help Jessop to stay the ‘rot’ that had set in on Thursday. |
26. To leave off, cease, discontinue (doing something, an activity of one's own). Also to delay, withhold (one's good opinion, thanks). Now
rare or
Obs.| 1538 Elyot Dict., Supprimere iter, to stay or omitte a iourney. c 1550 J. Cheke Let. in Athenæum (1909) 28 Aug. 237/2 As a man often..deceived with your promises, I will stay my good opinion. 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love Brief Descr. ☛ iij, If Sathan there had stayd his rage. c 1610 Women Saints 199 Not intermitting or staying his talke of sublime things for his bodies infirmitie. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 9 Stay your Thanks a while, And pay them when you part. 1628 Prynne Censure Cozens 44 There is as much hope of making the restlesse Sunne to stay its motion. 1685 Lady R. Russell Lett. I. xxvii. 72, I had not stayed supplying you with new French papers, but that I was doubtful how the last got to you. 1820 Keats Isabella xlvii, Then 'gan she work again; nor stay'd her care, But to throw back at times her veiling hair. |
b. To cease
to (do something).
poet. rare—1.
| 1894 Bridges Shorter P. v. Palm Willow 2 The birds have stayed to sing. |
† 27. To defend, guard (a place) against entry or incursion. Const.
from.
Obs.| 1575 Churchyard Chips 44 b, marg., Sir Thomas Manners..was sent before to stay the gates. 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 70 Demosthenes in Athens vsde his arte..stil to stay the towne from deepe deceite Of Philips wyles, which had besieged it. |
28. To appease, allay (strife, tumult);
† to reduce to order, bring under control (rebellious elements);
† to compose (a disturbed district).
† Also
refl. to compose oneself, control one's emotions. Now
rare.
| 1537 R. Aske in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. III. 59, I prey your Lordship to stay your quarters, as I have doon thes parts. a 1548 Hall Chron., Rich. III, 26 b, To putte some to execucion, and staie the countree, or els no small mischiefe had ensued. 1577 Kendall Flowers of Epigr., Trifles 2 b, Seke still to staie the stormes of sturdie strife. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 99 The Foxe, the Ape, and the Humble-Bee, Were still at oddes, being but three. Arm. Vntill the Goose came out of doore, Staying the oddes by adding foure. a 1593 Marlowe Massacre at Paris 439, I haue done what I could to stay this broile. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 688 Auria somewhat troubled with this sudden comming out of the enemie,..yet notably staied him⁓self. a 1648 Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII (1683) 477 This alone yet could not have stayed the Rebels. 1810 Scott Lady of L. v. xxix, Old men..Bless'd him who staid the civil strife. 1877 Tennyson Harold i. ii, Should not England Love Aldwyth, if she stay the feuds that part The sons of Godwin from the sons of Alfgar By such a marrying? |
29. to stay the stomach: to appease its cravings, stave off hunger; to quiet the appetite temporarily. Similarly
to stay one's longing,
hunger,
the appetite, etc. Also
fig.| 1608 Shakes. Per. v. iii. 83 Lord Cerimon, wee doe our longing stay To heare the rest vntolde. 1610 B. Jonson Alchemist iii. v, A piece of ginger-bread, to be merry with⁓all, And stay your stomack, lest you faint with fasting. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. vii. 419 All this Income rather stayed the stomack, than satisfied the hunger of the Kings Exchequer. 1684 tr. Bonet's Merc. Compit. i. 23 Fat and clammy things stay too great hunger. 1739 H. Walpole Let. to R. West 18 June, To stay your stomach, I will send you one of the vaudevilles or ballads. a 1853 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. xx. 258 A thing which when chewed will stay the appetite. 1877 Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 495 Present mercies are a sip by the way—a morsel eaten to stay the stomach. 1879 Stevenson Trav. Cevennes 89 Father Michael..gave me a glass of liqueur to stay me till dinner. 1888 Sat. Rev. 20 Oct. 453/1 It would appear that the fight at the Jalapla has..stayed the stomach of the Lamas for fighting. |
IV. Combinations.
30. Combinations of the
vb. + object:
stay-plough = rest-harrow (Prior
Plant-n. 1863);
stay-stomach, a snack to stay the stomach or appetite; also
fig.;
† stay-time nonce-wd., ? something to arrest the flight of time. Also
stay-ship.
| 1800 Bentham Wks. (1843) X. 356 The accompanying forgery papers I send you for a *stay stomach, to keep you in good humour. 1825 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 24 We had some bits of bread and meat in our pockets..which were merely intended as stay-stomachs. 1891 Ch. Times 328/4 The cross bun on Good Friday..was the only stay⁓stomach permissible till 3 p.m. |
| 1713 M. Henry Catech. Youth Wks. 1857 II. 162/2 We have more need of *stay⁓times than pastimes. |
31. Combinations of the
vb. +
adv. or
advb. phrase, as
stay-ashore, one who stays ashore;
stay-away, (
a) one who stays away; (
b) an act or process of staying away,
esp. from work; also as
adj.;
stay-a-while Austral., the shrub
Acacia colletioides, from the difficulty of penetrating a tract covered with it;
stay-down a., of, pertaining to, or designating a strike staged by miners staying down a mine;
stay-in a., of, pertaining to, or designating a strike in which the strikers remain in their place of work; also
absol. as n., (one who participates in) a strike of this kind;
stay-on adj., intended for guests who ‘stay on’ after an earlier function;
stay over, a waiting at a port of transhipment when the regular connexion has been missed;
stay-up a., of stockings: remaining in place without garters or suspenders; also
absol. as n. Also
stay-at-home.
| 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 24 July 2/1 On landing the crew were severely censured by the *stay-ashores for ‘lack of courage’. |
| 1867 Ch. & St. Rev. 2 Feb. 99 The intolerable dulness of the sermons, and the want of sympathy evinced by the sermonisers with the political aspirations of the *stayaways, were the reasons given. 1940 Sun (Baltimore) 10 Sept. 7/2 A ‘stay-away’ strike by hundreds of Allegany county school children continued into its second week today, with parents' support. Students said the ‘stay away’ was a protest against the consolidation program of the Allegany County Board of Education. 1963 Listener 28 Feb. 363/1 The calls for general work-stoppages during recent years have been ‘stay-aways’ directed against political and urban restrictions rather than against employers. 1976 Times 24 Aug. 1/4 Thousands of people in Soweto heeded a call not to go to work... Whether the mass stay-away..reflected widespread support for the strike call is unclear. |
| 1898 Morris Austral Eng. 436 *Stay-a-while, a tangled bush; sometimes called Wait-a-while. |
| 1948 Sun (Baltimore) 11 Feb. 3/1 (heading) ‘*Stay-down’ strikers occupy British mine. Ibid., Three hundred miners are staging a ‘stay-down’ strike in the Waleswood mine. 1948 Times 23 Feb. 3/1 More than 400 delegates from all parts of the South Wales coalfield at Cardiff on Saturday discussed measures to stop the wave of stay-down strikes. 1980 Listener 29 May 686/2 Miners in Hungary were winning themselves better conditions with a new tactic, the stay-down hunger strike. |
| 1915 Political Q. May 95 The Withdrawal of Labour Committee..advised the men..to adopt the ‘*stay-in’ strike. 1926 Times 29 Apr. 5/7 (heading) Lock-out of ‘stay-in’ strikers. 1937 Amer. Speech XII. 32 When this type of action takes place during working hours..it is a sit-down, folded arms or crossed arms strike. When it is prolonged beyond that period, it becomes, in addition, a stay-in. 1944 Time 12 June 14/1 Some of the stay-ins crowded out on to the balconies. 1950 Millis & Brown Wagner Act to Taft-Hartley viii. 278 In the ‘stay-in’ strike..management was locked out and kept off the job. 1968 Amer. Speech XLIII. 63 Drop-outs and stay-ins have been noted. |
| 1900 ‘J. S. Winter’ Married Miss Binks 79 They sent out invitations for a sort of garden party with a *stay⁓on cold dinner and a dance to follow. |
| 1898 M. Davitt Life & Progr. Austral. 2 One of the most interesting experiences in a ‘*stay over’ at this unsavoury place is that of watching the Arab porters coaling a ship. |
| 1949 Sun (Baltimore) 20 July 4 No roll—*stay up tops. 1953 Ibid. 20 July (E ed.) 3 No supporters are necessary for they have their own stay-up tops! 1969 J. Gardner Complete State of Death ix. 174 Her woollen kaftan riding up to display the dark elasticized top of her stay-up stockings. 1973 Nation (Barbados) 25 Nov. 3 (Advt.), Nylon Stay-ups 99 c. |
32. The verb-stem used
attrib., as
stay-bit, a snack before a meal.
| 1833 Fraser's Mag. VII. 686 Which might peradventure serve as a stay-bit to a ravenous public. |
▪ V. stay, v.2 (
steɪ)
Pa. tense and
pple. stayed (
steɪd). Also 6
stey,
staie,
staye.
[a. OF. estayer (mod.F. étayer) to prop up, prob. an extended use of the nautical verb estayer (mod.F. étayer) = stay v.3] 1. trans. To support, sustain, hold up (a person or thing). Const.
on,
upon,
† unto. Now somewhat rare
exc. in technical use (see 4).
| 1548 Cooper Elyot's Dict., Canalicula & Canaliculus, a littell pype, or a lyttell splente to staie a broken fynger. 1550 T. Lever Serm. (Arb.) 135 Beware therefore that ye staye not your selfe vnto a bryttell staffe. 1572 L. Mascall Plant. & Graff. (1592) 35 When those Cions shall put foorth a fayre wood, ye must binde and staye them in the middest..with small wands. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 150 The common wealth leaneth and stayeth it selfe vpon your shoulders. 1578 Banister Hist. Man iv. 47 Moreouer they [the muscles] are mad to stay the eyes. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. vi. 35 And in his hand a Iacobs staffe, to stay His wearie limbes vpon. 1607 Rowlands Famous Hist. 69 He sits him sadly down, And on his bending knees his elbow stays. a 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. ii. 175/2 A Water-man many times hath his Soueraigne by the hand, to stay him in and out the Barge. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 575 Sallows and Reeds..for Vineyards useful found, To stay thy Vines, and fence thy fruitful Ground. 1817 Keats ‘I stood tip-toe’ 73 Where swarms of minnows show their little heads, Staying their wavy bodies 'gainst the streams. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. i. ii, On this younger strength it would fain stay its decrepitude. 1870 Bryant Iliad xviii. 703 The vines were stayed on rows of silver stakes. 1871 H. Yule tr. Marco Polo i. lxi. I. 264 He has another Palace built of cane... It is stayed on gilt and lackered columns. 1891 Kipling Barrack-room Ballads, Eng. Flag 48 Because on the bones of the English the English Flag is stayed. |
b. transf. and
fig. To support, sustain, strengthen, comfort. Now
arch. (Biblical).
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 32 Thus these holy gyftes stayeth y⊇ soule of man. 1558 Bp. Watson Sev. Sacram. vi. 33 That our courage & strength maye bee stayed and directed to the right ende. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Song Sol. ii. 5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples. 1573–80 Tusser Husb. (1878) 9 Though countrie health long staid me. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. xi. 23 Neither may This fire be quencht by any wit or might,..So mighty be th' enchauntments, which the same do stay. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus i. 7 (1619) 158 Whereby Iacob in want staied his minde. a 1720 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1722) 13 Yet he was stayed by a secret Belief. 1872 O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. vii, The trust that stayed the hearts of those we loved who have gone before us. 1913 D. Bray Life-Hist. Brahui iv. 64 At her side sits some old dame, staying her with wise words of comfort. |
c. with
up. Now
rare (
arch.). Also
† to stay upright.
| 1526 Tindale Matt. iv. 6 With there handes they shall stey the vpp. 1535 Coverdale Exod. xvii. 12 And Aaron & Hur stayed vp his handes. 1569 T. Underdown Heliodorus viii. 110 b, Cariclia..beganne to staie her vprighte. 1577 Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. 79 b, The Vines that are yoked, or stayed vp with proppes. 1611 Bible 1 Kings xxii. 35 The king was stayed vp in his charet against the Syrians. 1646 Gataker Mistake Removed 25 As a bruised staf of reed or cane, that is..unable to stay a man up and support him. 1842 Manning Serm. I. xix. (1848) 283 He stayed them up even against themselves. |
2. fig. To cause to rest
on,
upon or
in (a firm support, base or ground); to base or ground
upon, to fix or set firmly
in.
| 1565 R. Shacklock tr. Hosius' Treat. Heresies 51 marg., What scriptures Stenckfeld stayeth his sect vpon. 1565 J. Phillip Patient Grissell Pref. (Malone Soc.) 2 Historians oft in Hystories, their hole delightes haue staid To pen & paynt forth painfully, the modest liues of those, That [etc.]. 1569 Spenser Sonets i. 14 So I..In God alone do stay my confidence. 1611 Bible Isa. xxvi. 3 Thou wilt keepe him in perfect peace, whose minde is stayed on thee. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxx. 8 A grief as deep as life or thought, But stay'd in peace with God and man. |
† b. refl. with
upon: To rely or build upon, take one's stand upon, rest or act upon; to abide by; to content oneself with.
Obs.| 1550 Crowley Last Trumpet 69 Stay thou thi selfe therfore vpon These examples comfortable. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Isa. xlviii. 2 They..staie them selues vpon the God of Israel. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 333 But staying my selfe upon this generall note, I will proceede with the treatise of the place that I have taken in hand. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. Epit. Precepts A ij, The principalls of ech Prouince, stayed themselues vpon his determination. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. v. 93 Their Adversaries stayed them⁓selves most upon Old Councils, and the Writings of Doctors and Fathers. |
† c. To settle in a strong position or secure tenure; to establish.
Obs.| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 394 b, Wishing, that either nation with their forces joyned together, might so stay them selves, that they should nead to be afraid of no man. 1574 Wills Northern C. (Surtees) I. 398, I will that my trewe servant will'm pateson shalbe hynd of the too hous..vnto such tym as he be stayed w{supt}{suph} a fermhold. |
3. intr. (for
refl.)
to stay on,
upon ―.
† a. To lean upon, support oneself by (a staff, etc.). Of a thing: To rest upon, be supported by.
| 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 208/2 Columnæ,..the vpright postes bearing vp the windbeame, and staying vpon the transains. 1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence, Andria iii. v. 65 Lo, what a sure speare I haue of thee, what a sure staffe to stay vpon. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 69 The aforesaid undermined towre, with some part of the wall (the timber whereon it staied soon burnt) fell downe. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 1168/1 To stay or lean upon; niti, inniti, insistere. |
† b. To rely upon, trust to, have confidence in; to look to for help or support. Of a thing: To depend on, be vested in.
Obs.| 1560 Bible (Geneva) Isa. xxxi. 1 Wo vnto them that..stay vpon horses, and trust in charettes. 1587 Fleming Contin. Holinshed III. 976/1 The letter was to be followed, the message not to be staied on. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 242, I stay heere on my bond. 1600 Rowlands Lett. Humours Blood (1874) 59 He hath a stocke whereon his lyuing stayes, And they are Fullams and Bard quarter-trayes. 1682 Bunyan Holy War (1905) 324 You must not dwell in, nor stay upon any thing of that which he hath in Commission to teach you. 1722 De Foe Plague (1840) 107 My heart smote me, suggesting how much better this poor man's foundation was, on which he stayed in the danger, than mine. |
4. trans. (
spec. and
techn.) To support, strengthen or secure with stays. Also with
up.
| 1556 Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees) 355 To Wm. Bellow and his ij workemen, in staying of the crosse & wallyng & settynge of the staires abowtt the said crosse, 10s. For staying of the owtshottis, etc. 7s. 8d. 1568–9 Ibid. 114 To Brian Daragon for making ij stayes to beare and stay uppe a gutter, 4d. 1580–1 Ibid. 118 For two longe yron gaddes for stayinge of a pynnacle of the churche, 11s. 1838 F. W. Simms Publ. Wks. Gt. Brit. 70 The roof and sides of the box shall be stayed with copper bolts. 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps vi. §19. 181 Watch an old building with anxious care..stay it with timber where it declines. 1869 Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. K 1, This machine consists of two very strong cast-iron plates, well stayed and bolted together. 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 498/2 The front tube-plate in which the tubes terminate..is stayed to the back tube-plate by the tubes themselves. Ibid. 499/2 The steam-dome is a cylinder 2½ feet in diameter and 8 feet long, stayed by a central 3½-inch rod of steel. 1898 Daily News 10 May 6/7 It did not matter to you whether the building was stayed up or not? |
▪ VI. stay, v.3 Naut. Pa. tense and
pple. stayed (
steɪd).
[f. stay n.1 Cf. OF. estayer (mod.F. étayer).] 1. trans. To secure or steady by means of stays; to incline (forward, aft, or to one side) by means of stays.
| 1627 Capt. Smith Sea Gram. v. 19 Those staies doe helpe to stay the Boulspret. 1644 H. Manwayring Seamans Dict. 101 The foremast and masts belonging to it are in the same manner stayed at the bolt-sprit, and sprit-saile-top-mast. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §300 Our shears and tackle were so well lashed down and stayed. 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 296 A mast is said to be stayed forward, or to rake aft, according as it inclines forward or aft. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 22 Feb. 5/1 The funnel had to be stayed. |
2. To put (a ship) ‘in stays’ (see
stay n.1 2 a); to put on the other tack.
| a 1625 Nomenclator Navalis (Harl. MS. 2301) To Stay or bring a Ship a Stay. 1633 T. James Voy. 93 We turned amongst this Ice, staying the Ship sometimes within her length, of great pieces. 1644 H. Manwayring Seamans Dict., To Stay, or, bring a Ship a-stay. When we tack the ship, before the ship can be ready to be tacked; she must come a-stayes or a back-stayes, that is, when wind comes in at the bowe which was the lee-bowe before, and so drives all the sailes backward, against the shrowds and masts, so that the ship hath no way, but drives with the broad-side: the manner of doing it is, [etc.]. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Bring a Ship upon the Stays or To stay her, is to manage her Tackle, and sails so that she cannot make any way forward, which is done in order to her Tacking. 1895 Daily News 8 July 8/6 The Prince's cutter made a strong bid for the weather berth by crossing on the wrong tack, but Ailsa was stayed, and Carter's game was spoiled. |
3. intr. To go about in stays; to turn to windward in order to tack.
| a 1613 Ralegh Let. Sceptick etc. (1651) 130 The extream length of a Ship makes her unapt to stay. 1628 Digby Voy. Mediterr. (Camden) 5 Wee..made all hast wee could to tacke about after them, but the sea went so high that it was long before we could make our shippe stay. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine ii. (1780), Refuser, to fall off again, when in stays; expressed of a ship that will not go about, or stay. 1836 E. Howard R. Reefer xxxi, She has stayed within her own length. 1891 Daily News 19 Oct. 6/7 The helm was put up, but the ship refused to stay. |