Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Stay \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 \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 \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.

Stay \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.

Source : WordNet®

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)

stay
     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}]