stay /ˈste/
  停留,逗留,制止,延緩,停止,依靠,支柱,支撐物,支索(vt.)制止,平息,延緩
  Stay n.  Naut. A large, strong rope, employed to support a mast, by being extended from the head of one mast down to some other, or to some part of the vessel. Those which lead forward are called fore-and-aft stays; those which lead to the vessel's side are called backstays. See Illust. of Ship.
  In stays, ∨ Hove in stays Naut., in the act or situation of staying, or going about from one tack to another. --R. H. Dana, Jr.
  Stay holes Naut., openings in the edge of a staysail through which the hanks pass which join it to the stay.
  Stay tackle Naut., a tackle attached to a stay and used for hoisting or lowering heavy articles over the side.
  To miss stays Naut., to fail in the attempt to go about. --Totten.
  Triatic stay Naut., a rope secured at the ends to the heads of the foremast and mainmast with thimbles spliced to its bight into which the stay tackles hook.
  Stay v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stayed or Staid p. pr. & vb. n. Staying.]
  1. To stop from motion or falling; to prop; to fix firmly; to hold up; to support.
     Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side.   --Ex. xvii. 12.
  Sallows and reeds . . . for vineyards useful found
  To stay thy vines.   --Dryden.
  2. To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to satisfy in part or for the time.
     He has devoured a whole loaf of bread and butter, and it has not staid his stomach for a minute.   --Sir W. Scott.
  3. To bear up under; to endure; to support; to resist successfully.
  She will not stay the siege of loving terms,
  Nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes.   --Shak.
  4. To hold from proceeding; to withhold; to restrain; to stop; to hold.
  Him backward overthrew and down him stayed
  With their rude hands and grisly grapplement.   --Spenser.
     All that may stay their minds from thinking that true which they heartily wish were false.   --Hooker.
  5. To hinder; to delay; to detain; to keep back.
     Your ships are stayed at Venice.   --Shak.
     This business staid me in London almost a week.   --Evelyn.
     I was willing to stay my reader on an argument that appeared to me new.   --Locke.
  6. To remain for the purpose of; to wait for. “I stay dinner there.”
  7. To cause to cease; to put an end to.
     Stay your strife.   --Shak.
  For flattering planets seemed to say
  This child should ills of ages stay.   --Emerson.
  8. Engin. To fasten or secure with stays; as, to stay a flat sheet in a steam boiler.
  9. Naut. To tack, as a vessel, so that the other side of the vessel shall be presented to the wind.
  To stay a mast Naut., to incline it forward or aft, or to one side, by the stays and backstays.
  Stay v. i.
  1. To remain; to continue in a place; to abide fixed for a space of time; to stop; to stand still.
     She would command the hasty sun to stay.   --Spenser.
     Stay, I command you; stay and hear me first.   --Dryden.
  I stay a little longer, as one stays
  To cover up the embers that still burn.   --Longfellow.
  2. To continue in a state.
  The flames augment, and stay
  At their full height, then languish to decay.   --Dryden.
  3. To wait; to attend; to forbear to act.
  I 'll tell thee all my whole device
  When I am in my coach, which stays for us.   --Shak.
     The father can not stay any longer for the fortune.   --Locke.
  4. To dwell; to tarry; to linger.
     I must stay a little on one action.   --Dryden.
  5. To rest; to depend; to rely; to stand; to insist.
     I stay here on my bond.   --Shak.
     Ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon.   --Isa. xxx. 12.
  6. To come to an end; to cease; as, that day the storm stayed. [Archaic]
     Here my commission stays.   --Shak.
  7. To hold out in a race or other contest; as, a horse stays well. [Colloq.]
  8. Naut. To change tack, as a ship.
  Stay, n.
  1. That which serves as a prop; a support. “My only strength and stay.”
     Trees serve as so many stays for their vines.   --Addison.
     Lord Liverpool is the single stay of this ministry.   --Coleridge.
  2. pl. A corset stiffened with whalebone or other material, worn by women, and rarely by men.
     How the strait stays the slender waist constrain.   --Gay.
  3. Continuance in a place; abode for a space of time; sojourn; as, you make a short stay in this city.
  Make haste, and leave thy business and thy care;
  No mortal interest can be worth thy stay.   --Dryden.
     Embrace the hero and his stay implore.   --Waller.
  4. Cessation of motion or progression; stand; stop.
  Made of sphere metal, never to decay
  Until his revolution was at stay.   --Milton.
     Affairs of state seemed rather to stand at a stay.   --Hayward.
  5. Hindrance; let; check. [Obs.]
     They were able to read good authors without any stay, if the book were not false.   --Robynson (More's Utopia).
  6. Restraint of passion; moderation; caution; steadiness; sobriety. [Obs.] “Not grudging that thy lust hath bounds and stays.”
     The wisdom, stay, and moderation of the king.   --Bacon.
  With prudent stay he long deferred
  The rough contention.   --Philips.
  7. Engin. Strictly, a part in tension to hold the parts together, or stiffen them.
  Stay bolt Mech., a bolt or short rod, connecting opposite plates, so as to prevent them from being bulged out when acted upon by a pressure which tends to force them apart, as in the leg of a steam boiler.
  Stay busk, a stiff piece of wood, steel, or whalebone, for the front support of a woman's stays.  Cf. Busk.
  Stay rod, a rod which acts as a stay, particularly in a steam boiler.
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  stay
       n 1: continuing or remaining in a place or state; "they had a
            nice stay in Paris"; "a lengthy hospital stay"; "a
            four-month stay in bankruptcy court"
       2: a judicial order forbidding some action until an event
          occurs or the order is lifted; "the Supreme Court has the
          power to stay an injunction pending an appeal to the whole
          Court"
       3: the state of inactivity following an interruption; "the
          negotiations were in arrest"; "held them in check";
          "during the halt he got some lunch"; "the momentary stay
          enabled him to escape the blow"; "he spent the entire stop
          in his seat" [syn: arrest, check, halt, hitch, stop,
           stoppage]
       4: (nautical) brace consisting of a heavy rope or wire cable
          used as a support for a mast or spar
       5: a thin strip of metal or bone that is used to stiffen a
          garment (e.g. a corset)
       v 1: stay the same; remain in a certain state; "The dress
            remained wet after repeated attempts to dry it"; "rest
            assured"; "stay alone"; "He remained unmoved by her
            tears"; "The bad weather continued for another week"
            [syn: remain, rest] [ant: change]
       2: stay put (in a certain place); "We are staying in Detroit;
          we are not moving to Cincinnati"; "Stay put in the corner
          here!"; "Stick around and you will learn something!" [syn:
           stick, stick around, stay put] [ant: move]
       3: dwell; "You can stay with me while you are in town"; "stay a
          bit longer--the day is still young" [syn: bide, abide]
       4: continue in a place, position, or situation; "After
          graduation, she stayed on in Cambridge as a student
          adviser"; "Stay with me, please"; "despite student
          protests, he remained Dean for another year"; "She
          continued as deputy mayor for another year" [syn: stay on,
           continue, remain]
       5: remain behind; "I had to stay at home and watch the
          children" [ant: depart]
       6: stop or halt; "Please stay the bloodshed!" [syn: detain, delay]
       7: stay behind; "The smell stayed in the room"; "The hostility
          remained long after they made up" [syn: persist, remain]
       8: a trial of endurance; "ride out the storm" [syn: last out,
           ride out, outride]
       9: stop a judicial process; "The judge stayed the execution
          order"
       10: fasten with stays
       11: overcome or allay; "quell my hunger" [syn: quell, appease]