Spays vs Stays - What's the difference?
spays | stays |
(spay)
To remove or destroy the ovaries (of an animal) so that it cannot become pregnant.
(plurale tantum) A corset.
* 1749 , Henry Fielding, Tom Jones , Folio Society 1973, p. 502:
(stay)
As verbs the difference between spays and stays
is that spays is (spay) while stays is (stay).As a noun stays is
.spays
English
Verb
(head)spay
English
Etymology 1
From the (etyl) espeier, equivalent to the (etyl) .Alternative forms
* (l) * (l)Verb
Synonyms
* castrate, emasculate (for a male) * geld * neuter * sterilize (used for all species and for both genders)References
* “spay, v.'']” listed in the '' [2nd Ed.; 1989
Etymology 2
See spayard.References
* “spay]” listed as a variant spelling of “[http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50232517 spaya(r)d, spayd]”, listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989
Anagrams
* * * English terms with multiple etymologies ----stays
English
Noun
(head)- Her face was whiter than snow, and her heart was throbbing through her stays .