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Stay vs Return - What's the difference?

stay | return |

In transitive terms the difference between stay and return

is that stay is to wait for; await while return is to report, or bring back and make known.

In intransitive terms the difference between stay and return

is that stay is to continue to have a particular quality while return is to go back in thought, narration, or argument.

As nouns the difference between stay and return

is that 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 while return is the act of returning.

As verbs the difference between stay and return

is that stay is to incline forward, aft, or to one side by means of stays while return is to come or go back (to a place or person).

As an adjective stay

is steep; ascending.

As an adverb stay

is steeply.

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

    *

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words

    return

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To come or go back (to a place or person).
  • :
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.}}
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=19 citation , passage=As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.}}
  • To go back in thought, narration, or argument.
  • :
  • (obsolete) To turn back, retreat.
  • *, Bk.V:
  • *:‘I suppose here is none woll be glad to returne – and as for me,’ seyde Sir Cador, ‘I had lever dye this day that onys to turne my bak.’
  • (obsolete) To turn (something) round.
  • *, Bk.X, Ch.xiij:
  • *:Whan Kyng Marke harde hym sey that worde, he returned his horse and abode by hym.
  • To put (place) something back where it had been.
  • :
  • To give something back to its original holder or owner.
  • :
  • To take something back to a retailer for a refund.
  • :
  • To give in requital or recompense; to requite.
  • *Bible, 1 Kings ii.44
  • *:The Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head.
  • (tennis) To bat the ball back over the net in response to a serve.
  • :
  • (card games) To play a card as a result of another player's lead.
  • :
  • (cricket) To throw a ball back to the wicket-keeper (or a fielder at that position) from somewhere in the field.
  • To say in reply; to respond.
  • :to return''' an answer;  to '''return thanks
  • *1897 , (Henry James), (What Maisie Knew)
  • *:‘Ah my good friend, I do look out!’ the young man returned while Maisie helped herself afresh to bread and butter.
  • (computing) To relinquish control to the calling procedure.
  • (computing) To pass (data) back to the calling procedure.
  • :
  • (dated) To retort; to throw back.
  • :to return the lie
  • *Dryden
  • *:If you are a malicious reader, you return upon me, that I affect to be thought more impartial than I am.
  • To report, or bring back and make known.
  • :to return the result of an election
  • *Bible, Exodus xix.8
  • *:And all the people answered together,and Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.
  • (by extension, UK) To elect according to the official report of the election officers.

    • Derived terms

    (Terms derived from the verb "return") * return to form

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of returning.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding.}}
  • A return ticket.
  • An item that is returned, e.g. due to a defect, or the act of returning it.
  • An answer.
    • a return to one's question
  • An account, or formal report, of an action performed, of a duty discharged, of facts or statistics, etc.; especially, in the plural, a set of tabulated statistics prepared for general information.
    • election returns'''; a '''return of the amount of goods produced or sold
  • Gain or loss from an investment.
  • * Jeremy Taylor
    • The fruit from many days of recreation is very little; but from these few hours we spend in prayer, the return is great.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 22, author=Sam Sheringham, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Liverpool 0-1 West Brom , passage=Liverpool have now won only five of their 17 home league games this season. It is a poor return for a team of Liverpool's pedigree and resources but, once again, Kenny Dalglish's team were the instigators of their own downfall as chance after chance went begging.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= The rise of smart beta , passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return' of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of ' return .}}
  • (taxation, finance): A report of income submitted to a government for purposes of specifying exact tax payment amounts. A tax return.
  • (computing) A carriage return character.
  • (computing) The act of relinquishing control to the calling procedure.
  • (computing) A return value: the data passed back from a called procedure.
  • A short perpendicular extension of a desk, usually slightly lower.
  • (American football) Catching a ball after a punt and running it back towards the opposing team.
  • (cricket) A throw from a fielder to the wicket-keeper or to another fielder at the wicket.
  • The continuation in a different direction, most often at a right angle, of a building, face of a building, or any member, such as a moulding; applied to the shorter in contradistinction to the longer.
    • A facade of sixty feet east and west has a return of twenty feet north and south.

    Synonyms

    * (l)

    Derived terms

    (Terms derived from the noun "return") * abnormal return * absolute return * active return * amended return * annual return * carriage return * day return * dollar return * exante return * excess return * expected return * exponential return * false return * hard return * in return * information return * joint return * many happy returns * market return * mean return * non-return * point of no return * rate of return * real return * relative return * return address * return crease * return day * return extrasystole * return flow * return key * return of capital * return on assests * return on capital emlpoyed * return on equity * return on invested capital * return on investment * return on net assets * return on sales * return stroke * return ticket * return to form * Return To Zero * return address * risk-adjsuted return * risk-free return * risk-return tradeoff * safety-net return/safety net return * soft return * subperiod return * tax return * total return * venous return

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * English reporting verbs 1000 English basic words