stay at home (staathom")

One who is not given to roaming, gadding about, or traveling; one who keeps at home, either through choice or of nece ity: also used adjectively: as, a stay - at - home man. "Cold!" said her father; "what do ye stay-at-homes know about cold, a should like to know." Mrs. Gaskell , Sylvia's Lovers, ix. stay-bar (sta bär), n. 1. In arch ., a horizon- tal iron bar extending in one piece from jamb to jamb through the mullions of a traceried win- dow. See saddle - bar .-2. Same as stay - rod , 2. Its sectional area should be three or four times that of a stay bar . Rankine , Steam Engine, § 66. stay-bolt (stā bōlt), n. In mach ., a bolt or rod binding together opposite plates to enable them to sustain each other against internal pre ure. Fletcher ( and another ), Queen of Corinth, iv. 3. staybusk (stā'busk), n. See busk4 , 2. Its trench had stayed full many a rock, Hurled by primeval earthquake shock. Scott , L. of the L., iii. 26. (c) To put off; defer; postpone; delay; keep back: as, to stay judgment. The cardinal did entreat his holine To stay the judgement o' the divorce. stay-chain (stā'chān), n. In a vehicle, one of the chains by which the ends of the double- tree are attached to the fore axle. They serve to limit the swing of the doubletree. stay cord (sta'kôrd), n. Same as stay lace . stayedt, stayedlyt, stayedne t. Old spell- Shak ., Hen. VIII., iii. 2. 33. ings of staid , staidly, staidne . We'll stay The sentence till another day. stay-end (stā'end), n. In a carriage, one of the ends of a backstay, bolted or clipped either Northern Lord and Cruel Jew (Child's Ballads, VIII. 282). to the perch or to the hind axle.- Stay-end tie, (d) To hold the attention of. For the sound of some sillable stayd the eare a great while, and others slid away so quickly, as if they had not bene pronounced. Putten ham , Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 56. The presence of the Govern our is (as you say) a great stay and bridle unto them that are ill disposed. Spenser, State of Ireland. 5. A stop; a halt; a break or ce ation of action, motion, or progre ion: as, the court granted a stay . They make many stayes by the way. Purchas , Pilgrimage, p. 427. They were able to read good authors without any stay , if the book were not false. Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), ii. 7. Works adjourn'd have many stays. Long demurs breed new delays. South well, Lo in Delay. 61. A standstill; a state of rest; entire ce ation of motion or progre : used chiefly in the phrase at a stay. In bashfulne the spirits do a little go and come - but with bold men upon a like occasion they stand at a stay. Bacon , Boldne (ed. 1887). 7. A fixed state; fixedne ; stability; perm a nence. Alas! what stay is there in human state? Dryden. 8. Continuance in a place; abode for an indefinite time; sojourn: as, you make a short stay in the city. Your stay with him may not be long. She will not stay the siege of loving terms, Nor bide the encounter of a ailing eyes. Shak., R. and J., i. 1. 218. Doubts are also entertained concerning her ability to stay the course. Daily Telegraph , Nov. 11, 1885. ( Encyc . Dict.) 4. To wait for; await. Let me stay the growth of his beard, if thou delay me not the knowledge of his chin. Shak., As you Like it, iii. 2. 221. His Lord was gone "Capt. to Amiens, John Smith, where True they Travels, would 1.3. stay his coming. There were a hundred and forty people, and most stayed Walpole , Letters, II. 369. supper. To stay the stomach, to appease the cravings of hun faintne : also used figuratively. in a vehicle, a rod forming a connection between the stayend on the reach and that on the axle.