n.
         - a point, period, or step in a process or development. 
▸a section of a journey or race.
 - a raised floor or platform on which actors, entertainers, or speakers perform. 
▸
(the stage)
 the acting or theatrical profession.
 - a scene of action or forum of debate.
 - a floor of a building.
 - each of two or more sections of a rocket or spacecraft that are jettisoned in turn when their propellant is exhausted.
 - Electronics  a part of a circuit containing a single amplifying transistor or valve.
 - a raised plate on a microscope on which a slide or specimen is placed for examination.
 - Geology  a range of strata corresponding to an age in time, forming a subdivision of a series.
 - historical a stagecoach.
 
v.
  - present a performance of (a play or other show). 
▸organize and participate in (a public event).
 ▸cause (something dramatic or unexpected) to happen.
 - Medicine  assign (a disease or patient) to a stage in a process.
 
 
  Phrase
  
    - hold the stage
 dominate a scene of action or forum of debate.  - set the stage for
 prepare the conditions for.  - stage left 
(or right)
 on the left (or right) side of a stage from the point of view of a performer facing the audience. 
   
  Derivative
  
    - stageability n.
  - stageable adj.
 
   
  Etymology
  ME: shortening of OFr. estage ‘dwelling’, based on L. stare ‘to stand’.