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stay

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To remain in one place or condition.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

stay
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈsteɪ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To remain in a particular place, especially for a definite or short period of time; sojourn; abide.

  2. Remain behind

    “I had to stay at home and watch the children.”

  3. transitive

    To prop; support; sustain; hold up; steady.

  4. transitive

    To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to satisfy in part or for the time.

  5. intransitivecopulative

    To continue to have a particular quality.

  6. To stop; detain; keep back; delay; hinder.

noun

  1. Continuance or a period of time spent in a place; abode for an indefinite time.

  2. Continuing or remaining in a place or state

    “They had a nice stay in Paris.”

  3. A fixed state; fixedness; stability; permanence.

  4. A prop; a support.

  5. A piece of stiff material, such as plastic or whalebone, used to stiffen a piece of clothing.

  6. A guy, rope, or wire supporting or stabilizing a platform, such as a bridge, a pole, such as a tentpole, the mast of a derrick, or other structural element.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To remain in a particular place, especially for a definite or short period of time; sojourn; abide.

Used this way, stay is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use stay

  • “We stayed in Hawaii for a week. I can only stay for an hour.”verb
  • “Wear gloves so your hands stay warm.”verb
  • “I hope you enjoyed your stay in Hawaii.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

stay awaystay home

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • staysnounPlural form

    A woman's close-fitting foundation garment.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • stay in placeverbCompound term

    Be stationary.

  • stay of executionnounCompound term

    An order whereby a judgment is precluded from being executed for a specific period of time.

  • stay offverbCompound term

    Refrain from entering or walking onto.

  • stay oververbCompound term

    Stay overnight.

  • stay putverbCompound term

    Stay put (in a certain place).

  • stay togetherverbCompound term

    Be loyal to one another, especially in times of trouble.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: continuance

hitchInformalrestdelay

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.