*tay*

n. [ Back, a. or n. + stay. ] 1. (Naut.) A rope or stay extending from the masthead to the side of a ship, slanting a little aft, to assist the shrouds in supporting the mast. [ Often used in the plural. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A rope or strap used to prevent excessive forward motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Bob + stay. ] (Naut.) A rope or chain to confine the bowsprit of a ship downward to the stem or cutwater; -- usually in the pl. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) A large, strong rope, reaching from the foremast head to the bowsprit, to support the mast. See Illust. under Ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) A rail of wood or iron stretching along a yard of a vessel, to which the sails are fastened. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Naut.) The stay extending from the foot of the foremast to the maintop. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Main support; principal dependence. [ 1913 Webster ]

The great mainstay of the Church. Buckle. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. See Métayer. ] A system of farming on halves. [ France & Italy ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F., fr. LL. medietarius, fr. L. medius middle, half. See Mid, a. ] One who cultivates land for a share (usually one half) of its yield, receiving stock, tools, and seed from the landlord; a type of sharecropper. [ France & Italy ] Milman. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

a. (Naut.) Having missed stays; -- said of a ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To stay beyond or longer than. [ 1913 Webster ]

She concluded to outstay him. Mad. D' Arblay. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Overstayed r Overstaid p. pr. & vb. n. Overstaying. ] To stay beyond the time or the limits of; as, to overstay the appointed time; to overstay one's welcome. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. staeg, akin to D., G., Icel., Sw., & Dan. stag; cf. OF. estai, F. étai, 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Stayed r Staid p. pr. & vb. n. Staying. ] [ OF. estayer, F. étayer to prop, fr. OF. estai, F. étai, 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. Ex. xvii. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sallows and reeds . . . for vineyards useful found
To stay thy vines. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to satisfy in part or for the time. [ 1913 Webster ]

He has devoured a whole loaf of bread and butter, and it has not staid his stomach for a minute. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To bear up under; to endure; to support; to resist successfully. [ 1913 Webster ]

She will not stay the siege of loving terms,
Nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To hold from proceeding; to withhold; to restrain; to stop; to hold. [ 1913 Webster ]

Him backward overthrew and down him stayed
With their rude hands and grisly grapplement. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

All that may stay their minds from thinking that true which they heartily wish were false. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To hinder; to delay; to detain; to keep back. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your ships are stayed at Venice. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

This business staid me in London almost a week. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

I was willing to stay my reader on an argument that appeared to me new. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To remain for the purpose of; to wait for. “I stay dinner there.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To cause to cease; to put an end to. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stay your strife. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

For flattering planets seemed to say
This child should ills of ages stay. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Engin.) To fasten or secure with stays; as, to stay a flat sheet in a steam boiler. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Naut.) To tack, as a vessel, so that the other side of the vessel shall be presented to the wind. [ 1913 Webster ]

To stay a mast (Naut.), to incline it forward or aft, or to one side, by the stays and backstays. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ √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. [ 1913 Webster ]

She would command the hasty sun to stay. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stay, I command you; stay and hear me first. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

I stay a little longer, as one stays
To cover up the embers that still burn. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To continue in a state. [ 1913 Webster ]

The flames augment, and stay
At their full height, then languish to decay. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To wait; to attend; to forbear to act. [ 1913 Webster ]

I 'll tell thee all my whole device
When I am in my coach, which stays for us. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The father can not stay any longer for the fortune. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To dwell; to tarry; to linger. [ 1913 Webster ]

I must stay a little on one action. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To rest; to depend; to rely; to stand; to insist. [ 1913 Webster ]

I stay here on my bond. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon. Isa. xxx. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To come to an end; to cease; as, that day the storm stayed. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Here my commission stays. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To hold out in a race or other contest; as, a horse stays well. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Naut.) To change tack, as a ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. estai, F. étai 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Trees serve as so many stays for their vines. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lord Liverpool is the single stay of this ministry. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. A corset stiffened with whalebone or other material, worn by women, and rarely by men. [ 1913 Webster ]

How the strait stays the slender waist constrain. Gay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Continuance in a place; abode for a space of time; sojourn; as, you make a short stay in this city. [ 1913 Webster ]

Make haste, and leave thy business and thy care;
No mortal interest can be worth thy stay. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Embrace the hero and his stay implore. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Cessation of motion or progression; stand; stop. [ 1913 Webster ]

Made of sphere metal, never to decay
Until his revolution was at stay. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Affairs of state seemed rather to stand at a stay. Hayward. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Hindrance; let; check. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They were able to read good authors without any stay, if the book were not false. Robynson (More's Utopia). [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Restraint of passion; moderation; caution; steadiness; sobriety. [ Obs. ] “Not grudging that thy lust hath bounds and stays.” Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wisdom, stay, and moderation of the king. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

With prudent stay he long deferred
The rough contention. Philips. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Engin.) Strictly, a part in tension to hold the parts together, or stiffen them. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid. Bacon. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Staidly. See Staidly. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Staidness. [ Archaic ] W. Whately. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Solidity; weight. [ R. ] Camden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who upholds or supports that which props; one who, or that which, stays, stops, or restrains; also, colloquially, a horse, man, etc., that has endurance, as in a race. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A lace for fastening stays. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Without stop or delay. Mir. for Mag. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One whose occupation is to make stays. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The European starling. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) Any sail extended on a stay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A remora, -- fabled to stop ships by attaching itself to them. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Metal.) A process (invented about 1899 by Frederick W. Taylor and Maunsel B. White) for giving toughness to self-hardening steels. The steel is heated almost to fusion, cooled to a temperature of from 700° to 850° C. in molten lead, further cooled in oil, reheated to between 370° and 670° C., and cooled in air. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ From the native name. ] (Zool.) A South American carnivore (Galera barbara) allied to the grison. The tail is long and thick. The length, including the tail, is about three feet. [ Written also taira. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Med.) A rare hereditary disease affecting lipid metabolism in humans, due to a deficiency of hexosaminidase. It occurs in infants and children, and causes death before the onset of adulthood. It occurs most commonly of people of Jewish origin from easter Europe. It is characterized by accumulation of lipids in nervous tissue, causes a red spot on the retina, and eventual blindness and paralysis before death. [ PJC ]