stay1
  
  v.
     - remain in the same place. 
▸
(stay on)
 continue to study, work, or be somewhere after others have left.
 ▸
(stay over)
 stay for the night at someone's home or a hotel.
 ▸
(stay up)
 not go to bed.
 - remain in a specified state or position. 
▸
(stay with)
 continue, persevere, or keep up with (an activity or person).
 - live somewhere temporarily as a visitor or guest. 
▸Scottish & S. African live permanently.
 - stop, delay, or prevent, in particular suspend or postpone (judicial proceedings) or refrain from pressing (charges). 
▸assuage (hunger) for a short time.
 - literary support or prop up.
 
n.
    - a period of staying somewhere.
 - a curb or check, especially a suspension or postponement of judicial proceedings.
 - a device used as a brace or support.
 - 
(stays)
 historical a corset made of two pieces laced together and stiffened by strips of whalebone.
 
 
  Phrase
  
  Derivative
  
  Etymology
  ME: from Anglo-Norman Fr. estai-, stem of OFr. ester, from L. stare ‘to stand’; in the sense ‘support’, partly from OFr. estaye (n.), estayer (v.), of Gmc origin.
 
  
    
stay2
  
  n.
   - a large rope, wire, or rod used to support a ship's mast.
 - a guy or rope supporting a flagstaff or other upright pole.
 - a supporting wire or cable on an aircraft.
 
v.
 secure or steady by means of a stay.
 
  Phrase
  
    - be in stays
 (of a sailing ship) be head to the wind while tacking.  - miss stays
 (of a sailing ship) fail in an attempt to go about from one tack to another. 
   
  Etymology
  OE stæg, of Gmc origin, from a base meaning ‘be firm’.