stay 
Stay 2 (sta), . [< ME. *stai/f, < OF. estate, cstriye, 
f., F. c'tei, m., a prop, stay, < ML), tttan/e, later 
alaiji, a prop, stay, also a contracted form of 
staede, stade, a prop, stay, help, aid ; of . D. stcile, 
stee, a place, = AS. slede, E. stead, a place : see 
xli'iiil, and cf. stnthe. The word stay* has been 
confused to some extent with slay*. The noun 
is by some derived from the verb. In the later 
senses it is so derived: see stay*, {>.] 1. A 
prop ; a support. 
There were stays on either side on the place of the seat 
(of Solomon's throne], and two lions stood beside the stays. 
1 Kl. x. 19. 
See we not plainly that obedience of creatures unto the 
law of nature is the stay of the whole world? 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, i. ;;. 
Specifically (a) In buildimj, apiece performing the of- 
Hce of a brace, to prevent the swerving or lateral deviation 
of the piece to which it is applied. (6) In steam-engines : 
(1) A rod, bar, bolt, or gusset in a boiler, to hold two parts 
together against the pressure of steam : as, a tube-stay ; 
a water-space stay. (2) One of the sling-rods connect- 
ing a locomotive-boiler to its frame. (3) A rod, beneath 
the boiler, supporting the inside bearings of the crank axle 
of a locomotive, (c) In mining, a piece of wood used to 
secure the pump to an engine-shaft, (d) In some hollow 
castings, a spindle which forms a support for the core. 
(e) In anat. and zoitl., technically, a prop or support : as, 
the bony slay of the operculum of a mail-cheeked fish, or 
cottoid. This is an enlarged suborbital bone which crosses 
the cheek and articulates with the prseoperculum in the 
mail-cheeked fishes. See Cottoidea, Seleroparife. 
2. }>l. A kind of waistcoat, stiffened with whale- 
bone or other material, now worn chiefly by 
women and girls to support and give shape 
to the body, but formerly worn also by men. 
(Hall, Satires.) Stays were originally, as at present, 
made in two pieces laced together : hence the plural form. 
In composition the singular is always used : as, stayl&ce, 
staymaker. See corset, 3. 
They could not ken her middle sae jimp, . . . 
The stays o' gowd were so well laced. 
The Bonny Bows o' London (Child's Ballads, II. 361). 
3f. A fastening for a garment; hence, a hook; 
a clasp; anything to hang another thing on. 
Cotgrave. 
To my dear daughter Philippa, queen of Portugal, my 
second best stay of gold, and a gold cup and cover. 
Test. Vetust., p. 142, quoted hi Halliwell. 
4. That which holds or restrains; obstacle; 
check; hindrance; restraint. 
The presence of the Governour is (as you say) a great 
stay and bridle unto them that are ill disposed. 
Spenser, State of Ireland. 
5. A stop; a halt; a break or cessation of ac- 
tion, motion, or progression : as, the court 
granted a stay. 
They make many stayes by the way. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 427. 
They were able to read good authors without any stay, 
if the book were not false. 
Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), ii. 7. 
Works adjourn'd have many stays. 
Long demurs breed new delays. 
Southwell, Loss in Delay. 
6t. A standstill ; a state of rest ; entire cessa- 
tion of motion or progress: used chiefly in the 
phrase at a stay. 
In bashfulness the spirits do a little go and come but 
with bold men upon a like occasion they stand at a stay. 
Bacon, Boldness (ed. 1887). 
7. A fixed state ; fixedness ; stability ; perma- 
nence. 
Alas! what stay is there in human state? Dryden. 
8. Continuance in a place ; abode for an indefi- 
nite time; sojourn: as, you make a short stay 
in the city. 
Your stay with him may not be long. 
Shale., M. for M., iii. 1. 256. 
9t. A station or fixed anchorage for vessels. 
Sir P. Sidney. (Imp. Diet.) 10. State; fixed 
condition. [Obsolete or archaic.] 
Amonge the Utopians, where all thinges be sett in a 
good ordre, and the common wealthe in a good staye, it 
very seldom chaunceth that they cheuse a newe plotte to 
buyld an house vpon. 
Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), ii. 4. 
Man . . . cometh up and is cut down like a flower ; he 
fieeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one 
stay [in eodem statu (Sarum dirge)]. 
Boot of Common Prayer, Burial of the Dead. 
He alone continueth in one stay. 
Lamb, Decay of Beggars. 
lit. Restraint of passion; prudence; moder- 
ation; caution; steadiness; sobriety. 
With prudent stay he long deferr'd 
The rough contention. Philips, Blenheim, 1. 276. 
Axle-guard stays, queen-post stay, etc. See the 
qualifying words. Stay Of proceedings, in law, a sus- 
pension of proceedings, as till some direction is complied 
with or till some appeal is decided ; sometimes, In Eng- 
land, an entire discontinuance or dismission of the action. 
=Syn. 1. See sta/. 5. Pause, etc. See rfopl. 
5917 
Stay 2 (sta), /.; prot. and pp. stayed, staid, ppr. 
x/tiyiiii/. [< ME. 'K/III/I-II, st< i/cii (pp. .ilniil). < 
OF. extayer, F. rtai/rr, prop, stay, < estaije, a 
prop, stay : sec X/HI/*, >i. By some derived < OF. 
i-Kli'ir, I'xtfi; fslrt; ('. i'tr<; be, remain, continue; 
but this derivation is on both phonetic and his- 
torical grounds untenable. There is a connec- 
tion felt between stay and stand; it is, however, 
very remote.] I. trans. 1. To prop ; support ; 
sustain; holdup; steady. 
And Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the 
one side, and the other on the other side. Ex. xvii. Ii 
A young head, not so well stayed as I would it were, 
. . . having many, many fancies begotten in it, if it had 
not been in some way delivered, would have grown a 
monster. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, Ded. 
Let that stay and comfort thy heart. 
Winthrop, Hist New England, I. 442. 
2. To Stop, (o) To detain; keep back; delay; hinder. 
Your ships are stay'd at Venice. 
Shak., T. of the S., iv. 2. 83. 
If I could stau this letter an hour, I should send you 
something of Savoy. Donne, Letters, xlix. 
This businesse staide me In London almost a weeke. 
Evelyn, Diary, Nov. 14, 1671. 
(0) To restrain ; withhold ; check ; stop. 
If I can hereby either prouoke the good or staye the 
ill, I shall thinke my writing herein well imployed. 
Ascham, The Scholemaster, p. 70. 
Why do you look so strangely, fearfully, 
Or stay your deathf ul hand ? 
Fletcher (and another), Queen of Corinth, iv. 3. 
Its trench had stayed full many a rock, 
Hurled by primeval earthquake shock. 
Scott, L. of the L., iii. 26. 
(c) To put off ; defer ; postpone ; delay ; keep back : as, to 
stay judgment. 
The cardinal did entreat his holiness 
To stay the judgement o' the divorce. 
Shak., Hen. VIII., iii. 2. 33. 
We'll stay 
The sentence till another day. 
Northern Lord and Cruel Jew (Child's Ballads, VIII. 282). 
(d) To hold the attention of. 
For the sound of some sillable stand the eare a great 
while, and others slid away so quickly, as if they had not 
bene pronounced. Puttenhain, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 56. 
3. To stand ; undergo ; abide ; hold out during. 
She will not stay the siege of loving terms, 
Nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes. 
Shak., R. and J., i. 1. 218. 
Doubts are also entertained concerning her ability to 
stay the course. 
Daily Teleyraph, Nov. 11, 1885. (Encyc. Diet.) 
4. To wait for; await. 
Let me stay the growth of his beard, if thou delay me 
not the knowledge of his chin. 
Shak., As you Like it, iii. 2. 221. 
His Lord was gone to Amiens, where they would stay 
his coming. Capt. John Smith, True Travels, I. 3. 
There were a hundred and forty people, and most stayed 
supper. Walpole, Letters, II. 369. 
To Stay the stomach, to appease the cravings of hun- 
ger ; quiet the appetite temporarily ; stave off hunger or 
faintness : also used figuratively. 
A piece of gingerbread, to be merry withal, 
And stay your stomach, lest you faint with fasting. 
B. Jonson, Alchemist, iii. 2. 
II. in traits. 1. To rest; depend; rely. 
Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression 
and perverseness, and stay thereon. Isa. xxx. 12. 
I stay here on my bond. Shak., M. of V., iv. 1. 242. 
2. To stop, (o) To come to a stand or stop. 
She would command the hasty sun to stay. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. x. 20. 
Stay, you come on too fast ; your pace is too impetuous. 
B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, iii. 3. 
(6) To come to an end : cease. 
An 't please your grace, here my commission stays. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., ii. 4. 76. 
(c) To delay ; linger ; tarry ; wait. 
Fourscore pound: can you send for bail, sir? or what 
will you do? we cannot stay. 
Webster and Dekker, Northward Hoe, i. 2. 
(d) To make a stand ; stand. 
Give them leave to fly that will not stay. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 3. 50. 
3. To hold out, as in a race or contest; last or 
persevere to the end. [Colloq.] 
He won at Lincoln, . . . and would stay better than Pi- 
zarro. Daily Telegraph, Sept. 14, 1885. (Encyc. Diet.) 
4. To remain: especially, to remain in a place 
for an indefinite time ; abide ; sojourn ; dwell ; 
reside. 
I understand, by some Merchants to-day upon the Ex- 
change, that the King of Denmark is at Gluckstadt, and 
stays there all this Summer. Hawell, Letters, I. v. 41. 
They staid in the royal court, 
And liv'd wi' mirth and glee. 
Young Akin (Child's Ballads, 1. 188). 
5. To wait ; rest in patience or in expectation. 
stay-rod 
If I receive money for your tobacco before Mr. Randall 
go, I will send you something else ; otherwise you must be 
content to stay till I can. 
'ii, Hist. New England, I. 424. 
For present deliverance, they du not much expect it; 
for they stay for their glory, and then they shall nave it, 
when their rrinci.- romrs in his, and the glory of the angels. 
Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, p. 127. 
6. To wait as an attendant; give ceremonious 
or submissive attrii<lini<T: with mi or II/HIH. 
I have a servant comes with me along, 
That stays upon me. Shak., M. for M., Iv. 1. 47. 
To Stay put, to remain where placed; remain fixed. [Col- 
loq.] = Syn. 4. To rest, lodge, delay. 
Stay-at-home (stii'iit-hom"), . One who is not 
given to roaming, gadding about, or traveling; 
one who keeps at noine, either through choice 
or of necessity: also used adjectively: as, a 
xlay-at-liitnif man. 
"Cold!" said her father; "what do ye stay-at-homes 
know about cold, a should like to know." 
Mrs. Oaskell, Sylvia's Lovers, ix. 
stay-bar (sta'bar), . 1. In arch., a horizou- 
tafiron bar extending in one piece from jamb to 
jamb through the mullions of a traceried win- 
dow. See saddle-bar. 2. Same as stay-rod, 2. 
Its sectional area should be three or four times that of a 
stay bar. Rankine, Steam Engine, 66. 
stay-bolt (sta'bolt), . In much., a bolt or rod 
binding together opposite plates to enable them 
to sustain each other against internal pressure. 
staybusk (sta'busk), . See &&*, 2. 
Stay-chain (sta'chan), . In a vehicle, one of 
the chains by which the ends of the double- 
tree are attached to the fore axle. They serve 
to limit the swing of the doubletree. 
staycord (sta'kord), . Same as staylace. 
stayedt, stayedlyt, stayednesst. Old spell- 
ings of ataiH, staidly, staidness. 
stay-end (sta'end), w. In a carriage, one of 
the ends of a backstay, bolted or clipped either 
to the perch or to the hind axle stay-end tie, 
in a vehicle, a rod forming a connection between the stay- 
end on the reach and that on the axle. 
stayer (sta'er), . [< stay* + -er 1 .] 1. One 
who supports or upholds ; a supporter; a backer. 
Thou, Jupiter, whom we do call the Stayer 
Both of this city and this empire. 
B. Jonson, Catiline, iv. 2. 
2. One who or that which stops or restrains. 
3. One who stays or remains: as, a stayer 
at home. 4. One who has sufficient endur- 
ance to hold out to the end; a person or an 
animal of staying qualities, as in racing or any 
kind of contest ; one who does not readily give 
in through weakness or lack of perseverance. 
[Colloq.] 
stay-foot (sta'fut), w. In shoe-manuf., a de- 
vice attached to, the presser-bar of a sewing- 
machine to guide a seam-stay in some kinds 
of light work. 
stay-gage (sta'gaj), . In a sewing-machine, 
an adjustable device screwed to the cloth-plate 
to guide a strip over the goods in such a way as 
to cover and conceal a seam. 
stay-holet (sta'hol), . A hole in a staysail 
through which it is seized to the hanks of the 
stay. 
stay-hook (sta'huk), 11. A small hook former- 
ly worn on the front of the bodice to hang a 
watch upon. Fairholt. 
staylace (sta'las), H. [< stay* + lace."] A lace 
used to draw together the parts of a woman's 
stays in order to give them the form required. 
stayless (sta'les), a. [Early mod. E. stdilesse; 
< stay* + -less.] 1. Without stop or delay; 
ceaseless. [Rare.] 
They made me muse, to see how fast they striu'd, 
With stailtsse steppes, ech one his life to shield. 
Mir. for Mags., p. 187. 
2. Unsupported by stays or corsets. 
Stay-light (sta'lit), n. Same as riding-light. 
staymaker (sta'ma' f 'ker), H. [< stay* + maker.] 
A maker of stays or corsets. 
Our ladies choose to be shaped by the staymaker. 
J. Spence, Crito. 
Stay-pile (sta'pil), . A pile connected or an- 
chored by land-ties with the main piles in the 
face of piled work. See cut under pilework. 
stay-plow (sta'plou), w. A European plant: 
same as rest-harrow. 
Stay-rod (sta'rod), w. 1. In steam-engines: (a) 
One of the rods supporting the boiler-plate 
which forms the top of the fire-box, to keep the 
top from being bulged down by the pressure of 
steam. (6) Any rod in a boiler which supports 
plates by connecting parts exposed to rupture 
m contrary directions, (c) A tension-rod in a 
marine steam-engine. 2. A tie-rod in a build- 
