STAY | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of stay in English stayverb uk /steɪ/ us /steɪ/

stay verb (NOT LEAVE)

Add to word list Add to word list A1 [ I ] to not move away from or leave a place or situation: stay for They need an assistant who is willing to stay for six months.stay until Stay until the rain has stopped. Can you stay after work to play tennis? Because of the snow, children were told to stay at home. to wait

• waitWe need to wait in line for the tickets.
• wait forWe're waiting for the bus.
• awaitWe are awaiting the committee's decision.
• stayStay there until I get back.
• remainPlease remain in your seats until the plane has come to a complete stop.
• hang onHang on, I'll be ready in a minute.

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• Can you stay a bit longer?
• It was cold and wet outside so we stayed at home.
• You can stay here if you like.
• Stay and have a drink with us.
• I'm afraid I can't stay.

Staying and remaining

• abrupt halt
• be left phrase
• closeted
• halt
• hang
• hold
• non-migrant
• non-rotating
• non-tenured
• outstay
• overstay
• sit
• spot
• stay in phrasal verb
• stay on phrasal verb
• stay put idiom
• stick
• stick around phrasal verb
• sticky
• stop in phrasal verb

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stay verb (CONTINUE)

B1 [ I usually + adv/prep, L ] to continue doing something, or to continue to be in a particular state: Stay away from the edge of the cliff.stay in He decided not to stay in teaching/medicine/the army. The final figures showed that most departments had stayed within budget.stay (out) It was so warm we stayed (out) in the garden until ten that night. Put a lid on the pan so the food will stay hot. The shops stay open until nine o' clock. They stayed friends after their divorce. To prevent anyone from being hurt, officials told people they had to stay away. Those of a sensitive disposition are advised to stay well away.

• She manages to stay cheerful despite everything.
• Many small businesses are struggling to stay afloat.
• Biscuits will stay crisp if you keep them in an airtight container.
• This is so boring, it's all I can do to stay awake.
• Her proposals would allow more people to stay in full-time education.

Keeping and staying the same

• anti-progressive
• calcification
• calcify
• consistency
• consistent
• continuum
• hover
• invariant
• inveteracy
• kept
• leave well alone idiom
• left
• peg
• stabilization
• stabilize
• stably
• steadfast
• steadfastly
• wallow
• wouldn't have it any other way idiom

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stay verb (LIVE)

A2 [ I ] to live or be in a place for a short time as a visitor: stay in I stayed in Montreal for two weeks then flew home.stay at/in They said they'd stay at/in a hotel.stay with My kids usually stay with their grandparents for a week in the summer.  stay overnight (also stay the night) to sleep somewhere for one night: We've arranged to stay overnight at my sister's house. See more [ I ] Indian English or Scottish English to live somewhere permanently: I still stay with my parents.

• I stayed in a marvellous clifftop hotel.
• We stayed in a fancy hotel near the Champs-Élysées.
• We stayed on one of the lesser-known Greek islands.
• The farmhouse we stayed in was completely off the beaten track.
• They stayed with us for a short time.

Living or sleeping somewhere

• abide
• asylum hotel
• co-resident
• co-residential
• domiciled
• inhabitation
• inhospitable
• inhospitably
• live at home
• live in phrasal verb
• put down roots idiom
• reinhabit
• reoccupation
• repopulate
• repopulation
• slum
• tenancy
• uninhabitable
• unlivable
• warehousing

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Idioms

here to stay stay on the sidelines stay put stay the course

Phrasal verbs

stay away from someone/something stay behind stay in stay on stay out stay out of something stay over stay up staynoun uk /steɪ/ us /steɪ/

stay noun (VISIT)

B1 [ C ] a period of time that you spend in a place: stay at/in She planned a short stay at/in a hotel to celebrate their anniversary. Visiting

• attraction
• beard the lion (in his/her den) idiom
• been
• call (in) on someone phrasal verb
• call by phrasal verb
• exchange
• hang with someone
• hangout
• happen
• happen along/by (somewhere) phrasal verb
• haunt
• pay
• pop
• regular
• round
• sojourn
• state visit
• stomping ground
• stop by (somewhere) phrasal verb
• stop in phrasal verb

See more results »  stay of execution, deportation, etc. law   specialized an order by a judge that stops a judgment being performed until new information can be considered: The governor refused to grant a stay of execution. See more (Definition of stay from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

stay | American Dictionary

stayverb us /steɪ/

stay verb (NOT LEAVE)

Add to word list Add to word list [ I ] to not move away from or leave a place: I have a meeting at three so I can’t stay long. They need an assistant who is willing to stay for six months. Can you stay for dinner? James had to stay after school to complete the assignment. Because of the snow, he stayed home from school today. She’s come back home to stay (= She will not move away again).

stay verb (CONTINUE)

to continue to be in a particular state or position, or to continue doing something: [ I always + adv/prep ] Stay away from the edge of the cliff. [ I always + adv/prep ] His boss asked him to stay on as manager for another year. [ I always + adv/prep ] Mom told me not to stay out/up too late. [ L ] I found it difficult to stay awake/calm/warm. [ L ] The store stays open until 9 p.m. [ L ] They stayed friends, even after they moved to different countries. [ L ] For further news of the hurricane, stay tuned (= keep listening to this program).

stay verb (LIVE TEMPORARILY)

[ I ] to live in a place for a short time as a visitor, or just sleep there: We stayed in San Francisco for a few days before flying to Hawaii. I’ll be staying overnight at my sister’s house.

Idiom

stay put staynoun [ C ] us /steɪ/ a period of time that you spend in a place: They plan a short stay at a motel while the house is being painted. (Definition of stay from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

stay | Business English

stayverb [ I ] uk /steɪ/ us Add to word list Add to word list to not move away or leave: stay for 2 days/2 weeks/2 years, etc. They need an assistant who is willing to stay for six months.stay at work/home We stayed at work until 10 pm.stay in/on sth She will stay on the board after she steps down as CEO.stay here/there How long do you plan to stay here in Boston? to continue doing something, or to continue to be in a particular state: stay open/closed The shops stay open until 9 o' clock.stay in/on/at sth It is becoming too expensive for small dairy farms to stay in business.stay within sth Most departments had stayed within budget.

Phrasal verb

stay on (Definition of stay from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of stay

stay A man of different race, age and character comes into the foreground of the book and almost without a break stays there till the end. From the Cambridge English Corpus The men stayed behind but we left next day. From the Cambridge English Corpus The village stays the same: no one here wants more- no effort, no novelty. From the Cambridge English Corpus In many situations, dropouts are not the same patient population as those who stayed within the trial. From the Cambridge English Corpus The experiment was not a great success, though all three stayed in the force for some time. From the Cambridge English Corpus Events in the countryside often stayed within the jurisdiction of the dominant landowner although they legally belonged within the purview of the state. From the Cambridge English Corpus The same source suggests that despite legal changes, tenancies typically stayed for several decades within the same family. From the Cambridge English Corpus Both passages reinforce the traditional image of the woman who stays at home, awaiting the battle news. From the Cambridge English Corpus We might suggest that while undoubtedly an image of the war effort, it shows the bold peasantry who stayed behind. From the Cambridge English Corpus Faces stayed in full view until children responded. From the Cambridge English Corpus By staying within the safe environmental limits, much of the biodiversity would be conserved, while income per capita rose. From the Cambridge English Corpus Having made such a promise, she is justified in going out to dinner over staying at home to grade papers. From the Cambridge English Corpus How is the decision made about what goes and what stays? From the Cambridge English Corpus The media have stayed away from it big time. From the Cambridge English Corpus According to these epidemiological results, women are better at staying alive. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of stay These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of stay?

Translations of stay

in Chinese (Traditional) 不離開, 留下, 停留… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 不离开, 留下, 停留… See more in Spanish quedarse, permanecer, alojarse… See more in Portuguese permanecer, ficar, hospedar-se… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian एक जागी थांबणे, थांबणे, राहणे… See more （1ヵ所に）とどまる, 滞在する, （ある状態）のままでいる… See more kalmak, geçirmek, harcamak… See more rester, séjour [masculine], séjour… See more quedar-se, estar-se, allotjar-se… See more blijven, verblijf… See more ஒரு இடம் அல்லது சூழ்நிலையிலிருந்து விலகிச் செல்லவோ அல்லது வெளியேறவோ கூடாது, தொடர்ந்து ஏதாவது செய்ய, அல்லது ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட மாநிலத்தில் தொடர்ந்து இருக்க வேண்டும்… See more (किसी स्थान या परिस्थिति में) रुके रहना, कुछ करते रहना या किसी अवस्था में बने रहना, (आगंतुक के रूप में) थोड़े समय के लिए कहीं रहना या ठहरना… See more રોકાવું, રહેવું, કંઈક કરવાનું… See more opholde sig, blive, ophold… See more stanna, vistas, bo… See more tinggal, berada, menginap… See more bleiben, der Aufenthalt… See more bli, forbli, vente… See more ٹھہرنا, رہنا, رکنا… See more зупинятися, жити, залишатися… See more ఉండు/ఉండడం, ఉండటం, ఉండడం… See more থাকা, স্থান বা পরিস্থিতি থেকে দূরে সরে যাওয়া বা ছেড়ে না যাওয়া, কোনোকিছু করতে থাকা বা কোনো নির্দিষ্ট অবস্থায় থাকা… See more zůstat, vydržet, pobyt… See more tinggal, tetap, masa tinggal… See more พักอยู่, อาศัยอยู่, อยู่… See more ở lại, lưu lại, ở trong trạng thái… See more zostawać, pozostawać, być… See more 머무르다, 지내다, 묵다… See more restare, rimanere, stare… See more Need a translator?

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stave something in phrasal verb stave something/someone off phrasal verb staves stavudine stay stay afloat stay alive stay at home stay away from someone/something phrasal verb {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of stay

• long-stay
• short-stay
• stay afloat
• stay alive
• stay at home
• stay-at-home
• stay in the game

See all meanings

• stay in phrasal verb
• stay on phrasal verb
• stay out phrasal verb
• stay up phrasal verb
• stay over phrasal verb
• stay behind phrasal verb
• stay out of something phrasal verb

See all phrasal verb meanings

• stay put idiom
• hang/stay loose idiom
• steer/stay/keep clear phrase
• stay overnight phrase
• here to stay idiom
• keep/stay/remain abreast of something phrase
• stay the course idiom

See all idioms and phrases

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• English   
  • Verb 
    • stay (NOT LEAVE)
    • stay (CONTINUE)
    • stay (LIVE)
    • stay overnight
  • Noun 
    • stay (VISIT)
    • stay of execution, deportation, etc.
• American   
  • Verb 
    • stay (NOT LEAVE)
    • stay (CONTINUE)
    • stay (LIVE TEMPORARILY)
  Noun
• Business   Verb
• Examples

• Translations
• Grammar
• All translations

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