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.

 ◄ ►


 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]