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What is the difference between stand and stay?

stand | stay |

In intransitive terms the difference between stand and stay

is that stand is to remain without ruin or injury while stay is to continue to have a particular quality.

In transitive terms the difference between stand and stay

is that stand is to oppose, usually as a team, in competition while stay is to wait for; await.

In intransitive nautical terms the difference between stand and stay

is that stand is of a ship or its captain, to steer, sail (in a specified direction, for a specified destination etc.) while stay is to change; tack; go about; be in stays, as a ship.

In obsolete terms the difference between stand and stay

is that stand is a weight of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds, used in weighing pitch while stay is hindrance; let; check.

As verbs the difference between stand and stay

is that stand is To position or be positioned physically.stay is to incline forward, aft, or to one side by means of stays.

As nouns the difference between stand and stay

is that stand is the act of standing while stay is a strong rope supporting a mast, and leading from the head of one mast down to some other, or other part of the vessel.

As an adjective stay is

steep; ascending.

As an adverb stay is

steeply.

stand

English

Verb

  • (lb) To or be positioned physically.
  • #(lb) To support oneself on the feet in an erect position.
  • #:
  • #*
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps,
  • #(lb) To rise to one’s feet; to stand up.
  • #:
  • # To remain motionless.
  • #:
  • #*Bible, (w) ii, 9
  • #*:The star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
  • #*, chapter=23
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.}}
  • #*
  • #*:Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
  • #(lb) To be placed in an upright or vertical orientation.
  • #*
  • #*:They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect.
  • #*
  • #*:He seized the gun which always stood in a corner of his bedroom.
  • #(lb) To place in an upright or standing position.
  • #:
  • #(lb) To occupy or hold a place; to be situated or located.
  • #:
  • #(lb) To measure when erect on the feet.
  • #* (1809-1892)
  • #*:Six feet two, as I think, he stands .
  • (lb) To or be positioned mentally.
  • # To be positioned to gain or lose.
  • #:
  • # To tolerate.
  • #:
  • #*, chapter=7
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=“[…] if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand' that 'cause I'm paid for it. What I won't ' stand is to have them togs called a livery.
  • #(lb) To maintain one's ground; to be acquitted; not to fail or yield; to be safe.
  • #*Spectator
  • #*:readers by whose judgment I would stand or fall
  • #(lb) To maintain an invincible or permanent attitude; to be fixed, steady, or firm; to take a position in resistance or opposition.
  • #*Bible, (w) viii. 11
  • #*:The king granted the Jewsto gather themselves together, and to stand for their life.
  • #*(Robert South) (1634–1716)
  • #*:the standing pattern of their imitation
  • # To be in some particular state; to have essence or being; to be; to consist.
  • #*Bible, (w) ix. 10
  • #*:sacrificeswhich stood only in meats and drinks
  • #*(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • #*:Accomplish what your signs foreshow; / I stand resigned, and am prepared to go.
  • #*Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
  • #*:Thou seest how it stands with me, and that I may not tarry.
  • (lb) To or be positioned socially.
  • # To act as an umpire.
  • #(lb) To undergo; withstand; hold up.
  • #:
  • #*(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • #*:Love stood the siege.
  • #*(Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • #*:Bid him disband his legions,/ And stand the judgment of a Roman senate.
  • #*(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • #*:He stood the furious foe.
  • # To seek election.
  • #:
  • #*(Izaak Walton) (c.1594-1683)
  • #*:He stood to be elected one of the proctors of the university.
  • #(lb) To be valid.
  • #:
  • #(lb) To oppose, usually as a team, in competition.
  • #*1957 , (Matt Christopher), Basketball Sparkplug , Ch.7:
  • #*:"Kim, Jack, and I will stand you guys," Jimmie Burdette said. ¶ "We'll smear you!" laughed Ron.
  • #* R. J. Childerhose, Hockey Fever in Goganne Falls , p.95:
  • #*:The game stopped while sides were sorted out. Andy did the sorting. "Okay," he said. "Jimmy is coming out. He and Gaston and Ike and me will stand you guys."
  • #*1978 , (Louis Sachar), Sideways Stories from Wayside School , Ch.21:
  • #*:"Hey, Louis," Dameon shouted. "Do you want to play kickball?" ¶ ""All right," said Louis. "Ron and I will both play."¶ "Ron and I will stand everybody!" Louis announced.
  • #To cover the expense of; to pay for.
  • #:
  • #:(Thackeray)
  • #(lb) To have or maintain a position, order, or rank; to be in a particular relation.
  • #:
  • #(lb) To be consistent; to agree; to accord.
  • #*(Philip Massinger) (1583-1640)
  • #*:Doubt me not; by heaven, I will do nothing / But what may stand with honour.
  • #(lb) To appear in court.
  • #:(Burrill)
  • Of a ship or its captain, to steer, sail (in a specified direction, for a specified destination etc.).
  • *1630 , John Smith, True Travels , in Kupperman 1988, p.40:
  • *:To repaire his defects, hee stood for the coast of Calabria, but hearing there was six or seven Galleyes at Mesina hee departed thence for Malta.
  • (lb) To remain without ruin or injury.
  • *(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • *:My mind on its own centre stands unmoved.
  • *(Lord Byron) (1788-1824)
  • *:The ruin'd wall / Stands when its wind-worn battlements are gone.
  • (lb) To stop asking for more cards.
  • Usage notes

    * In older works, standen is found as a past participle of this verb; it is now archaic. * (tolerate) This is almost always found in a negative form such as can’t stand', or ' No-one can stand… In this sense it is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (term) or infinitive . See .

    Derived terms

    * bestand * offstand * a leg to stand on * stand alone/stand-alone * stand aside * stand and deliver * stand back * stand by * stand corrected * stand down * stand easy * stand firm * stand for * stand from under * stand guard * stand off/stand-off * stand on * stand on ceremony * stand out * stand over * stand-in * stand in for * * stand on end * * stand pat * stand still * stand tall * stand to reason * stand watch * stand up/stand-up/standup * understand * upstand

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of standing.
  • *Spectator
  • *:I took my stand upon an eminenceto look into their several ladings.
  • A defensive position or effort. (rfex)
  • A resolute, unwavering position; firm opinion; action for a purpose in the face of opposition.
  • :
  • A period of performance in a given location or venue.
  • :
  • A device to hold something upright or aloft.
  • :
  • *
  • *:There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand , and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
  • The platform on which a witness testifies in court; the witness stand or witness box.
  • :
  • A particular grove or other group of trees or shrubs.
  • :
  • (lb) A contiguous group of trees sufficiently uniform in age-class distribution, composition, and structure, and growing on a site of sufficiently uniform quality, to be a distinguishable unit.
  • A standstill, a motionless state, as of someone confused, or a hunting dog who has found game.
  • *1625 , (Francis Bacon), “Of Truth”, Essays
  • *:One of the later school of the Grecians, examineth the matter, and is at a stand , to think what should be in it, that men should love lies; where neither they make for pleasure, as with poets, nor for advantage, as with the merchant; but for the lie’s sake.
  • *1819 , (Lord Byron), , I.168:
  • *:Antonia's patience now was at a stand — / "Come, come, 't is no time now for fooling there," / She whispered
  • A small building, booth, or stage, as in a bandstand or hamburger stand.
  • A designated spot where someone or something may stand or wait.
  • :(ux)
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:I have found you out a stand most fit, / Where you may have such vantage on the duke, / He shall not pass you.
  • The situation of a shop, store, hotel, etc.
  • :
  • (lb) grandstand (often in plural)
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 11, author=Rory Houston, work=RTE Sport
  • , title= Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland , passage=The end of the opening period was relatively quite [sic] as Vassiljev's desperate shot from well outside the penalty area flew into the stand housing the Irish supporters and then Ward's ctoss [sic] was gathered by goalkeeper Pareiko.}}
  • (lb) A partnership.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 21, author=Tom Fordyce, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= England v West Indies: Hosts cruise home in Lord's Test , passage=England wrapped up a five-wicket victory in the first Test as a stand of 132 between Alastair Cook and Ian Bell saw off an early West Indies charge.}}
  • A single set, as of arms.
  • *1927 , Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld , Paragon House (1990), ISBN 1-55778-348-9, p.170:
  • *:The police and troops captured eleven thousand stand of arms, including muskets and pistols, together with several thousand bludgeons and other weapons.
  • (lb) Rank; post; station; standing.
  • *(Samuel Daniel) (1562-1619)
  • *:Father, since your fortune did attain / So high a stand , I mean not to descend.
  • (lb) A state of perplexity or embarrassment.
  • :
  • A young tree, usually reserved when other trees are cut; also, a tree growing or standing upon its own root, in distinction from one produced from a scion set in a stock, either of the same or another kind of tree.
  • (lb) A weight of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds, used in weighing pitch.
  • (Webster 1913)

    Derived terms

    (Terms derived from the noun "stand") * at a stand * bandstand * bicycle stand * blow this pop stand * clamp stand * coat stand * concessions stand * cruet stand * dish stand * grandstand * home stand * kickstand * music stand * one-night stand * outstanding * retort stand * ring stand * Sheffield stand * stable stand * standout * standpoint * standstill * take a firm stand * take a stand * take the stand * taxi stand * track stand * umbrella stand * upstanding * witness stand

    Statistics

    *

    stay

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nautical) A strong rope supporting a mast, and leading from the head of one mast down to some other, or other part of the vessel.
  • A guy, rope, or wire supporting or stabilizing a platform, such as a bridge, a pole, such as a tentpole, the mast of a derrick, or other structural element.
  • The engineer insisted on using stays for the scaffolding.
  • (chain-cable) The transverse piece in a link.
  • Synonyms
    *
    Derived terms
    * backstay * bobstay * forestay * jackstay * mainstay * staylace * stayless * staymaker * stayman * staysail * stayship * triatic stay

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (nautical) To incline forward, aft, or to one side by means of stays.
  • stay a mast
  • (nautical) To tack; put on the other tack.
  • to stay ship
  • (nautical) To change; tack; go about; be in stays, as a ship.
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) steyen, staien, from (etyl) estayer, . More at (l), (l). Sense of "remain, continue" may be due to later influence from (etyl) ester, , from the same Proto-Indo-European root above; however, derivation from this root is untenable based on linguistic and historical groundsWhitney, Century Dictionary and Encyclopedia , stay.. An alternative etymology derives (etyl) estaye, estaie, from Old (etyl) . More at (l), (l).

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To prop; support; sustain; hold up; steady.
  • To stop; detain; keep back; delay; hinder.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • Your ships are stay'd at Venice.
  • * (John Evelyn) (1620-1706)
  • This business staid me in London almost a week.
  • * (John Locke) (1632-1705)
  • I was willing to stay my reader on an argument that appeared to me new.
  • * (Bible), (w) xvii. 12
  • Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • Sallows and reedsfor vineyards useful found / To stay thy vines.
  • To restrain; withhold; check; stop.
  • * (Richard Hooker) (1554-1600)
  • all that may stay their minds from thinking that true which they heartily wish were false
  • To put off; defer; postpone; delay; keep back.
  • To hold the attention of.
  • To bear up under; to endure; to hold out against; to resist.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • She will not stay the siege of loving terms, / Nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes.
  • To wait for; await.
  • To rest; depend; rely.
  • * (w) 30:12, (w)
  • Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • I stay here on my bond.
  • To stop; come to a stand or standstill.
  • To come to an end; cease.
  • That day the storm stayed .
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • Here my commission stays .
  • To dwell; linger; tarry; wait.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • I must stay a little on one action.
  • To make a stand; stand.
  • To hold out, as in a race or contest; last or persevere to the end.
  • That horse stays well.
  • To remain in a particular place, especially for an indefinite time; sojourn; abide.
  • * (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • She would command the hasty sun to stay .
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • Stay , I command you; stay and hear me first.
  • * (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) (1807-1882)
  • I stay a little longer, as one stays / To cover up the embers that still burn.
  • * , chapter=5
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=“Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” ¶ She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.}}
  • To wait; rest in patience or expectation.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • I'll tell thee all my whole device / When I am in my coach, which stays for us.
  • * (John Locke) (1632-1705)
  • The father cannot stay any longer for the fortune.
  • To wait as an attendant; give ceremonious or submissive attendance.
  • To continue to have a particular quality.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • The flames augment, and stay / At their full height, then languish to decay.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
  • , volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",
  • To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to satisfy in part or for the time.
  • * Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
  • He has devoured a whole loaf of bread and butter, and it has not staid his stomach for a minute.
  • (obsolete) To remain for the purpose of; to wait for.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • I stay dinner there.
  • To cause to cease; to put an end to.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • Stay your strife.
  • * (Ralph Waldo Emerson) (1803-1882)
  • For flattering planets seemed to say / This child should ills of ages stay .
  • To fasten or secure with stays.
  • to stay a flat sheet in a steam boiler
    Derived terms
    * bestay * forestay * forstay * gainstay * here to stay * offstay * onstay * outstay * overstay * stay-at-home * stay behind * stay-button * stayer * stay hungry * stay on * stay over * stay put * stay the course * stay up * * understay * unstay * unstayed * upstay
    See also
    * abide * belive * continue * dwell * live * remain * reside

    References

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) *. See above.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A prop; a support.
  • * Milton
  • My only strength and stay .
  • * Addison
  • Trees serve as so many stays for their vines.
  • * Coleridge
  • Lord Liverpool is the single stay of this ministry.
  • (archaic) A fastening for a garment; a hook; a clasp; anything to hang another thing on.
  • That which holds or restrains; obstacle; check; hindrance; restraint.
  • A stop; a halt; a break or cessation of action, motion, or progress.
  • * Milton
  • Made of sphere metal, never to decay / Until his revolution was at stay .
  • * Hayward
  • Affairs of state seemed rather to stand at a stay .
  • (archaic) A standstill; a state of rest; entire cessation of motion or progress.
  • stand at a stay
  • A postponement, especially of an execution or other punishment.
  • The governor granted a stay of execution.
  • A fixed state; fixedness; stability; permanence.
  • Continuance or a period of time spent in a place; abode for an indefinite time; sojourn.
  • I hope you enjoyed your stay in Hawaii.
  • (nautical) A station or fixed anchorage for vessels.
  • Restraint of passion; prudence; moderation; caution; steadiness; sobriety.
  • * Herbert
  • Not grudging that thy lust hath bounds and stays .
  • * Francis Bacon
  • The wisdom, stay , and moderation of the king.
  • * Philips
  • With prudent stay he long deferred / The rough contention.
  • A piece of stiff material, such as plastic or whalebone, used to stiffen a piece of clothing.
  • Where are the stays for my collar?
  • (obsolete) Hindrance; let; check.
  • * Robynson (More's Utopia)
  • They were able to read good authors without any stay , if the book were not false.
    Derived terms
    * gay for the stay * staycation

    Etymology 4

    From (etyl) , see (l).

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l), (l), (l)

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Steep; ascending.
  • (of a roof) Steeply pitched.
  • Difficult to negotiate; not easy to access; sheer.
  • Stiff; upright; unbending; reserved; haughty; proud.
  • Adverb

    (en-adv)
  • Steeply.
  • Statistics

    *