Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Stay?

\Stay\, n. [AS. st[ae]g, akin to D., G., Icel., Sw., & Dan. stag; cf. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai, of Teutonic origin.] (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}, or {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}.] [OF. estayer, F. ['e]tayer to prop, fr. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai, a prop, probably fr. OD. stade, staeye, a prop, akin to E. stead; or cf. stay a rope to support a mast. Cf. {Staid}, a., {Stay}, v. i.] 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 grisly grapplement. --Spenser. All that may stay their minds from thinking that true which they heartly wish were false. --Hooker. 5. To hinde?; 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.'' --Shak. 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. [[root]163. See {Stay} to hold up, prop.] 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. [Cf. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai support, and E. stay a rope to support a mast.] 1. That which serves as a prop; a support. ``My only strength and stay.'' --Milton. 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.'' --Herbert. 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.