stay2 (sta)

[ There were stays on either side on the place of the seat [of Solomon's throne], and two lions stood beside the stays. 1 Ki. x. 19. See we not plainly that obedience of creatures unto the law of nature is the stay of the whole world? Hooker, Eccles. Polity, i. 3. Specifically-(a) In building , a piece performing the office of a brace, to prevent the swerving or lateral deviation of the piece to which it is applied. (6) In steam-engines: (1) A rod, bar, bolt, or gu et in a boiler, to hold two parts together against the pre ure of steam: as, a tube- stay ; a water-space stay. (2) One of the sling-rods connecting a locomotive-boiler to its frame. (3) A rod, beneath the boiler, supporting the inside bearings of the crank-axle of a locomotive. (c) In mining , a piece of wood used to secure the pump to an engine-shaft. (d) In some hollow castings, a spindle which forms a support for the core. (e) In an at . and zoöl ., technically, a prop or support: as, the bony stay of the operculum of a mail-cheeked fish, or cottoid. This is an enlarged suborbital bone which cro es the cheek and articulates with the præoperculum in the mail-cheeked fishes. See Cot to idea , Scleropariæ . 2. pl. A kind of waistcoat, stiffened with whalebone or other material, now worn chiefly by women and girls to support and give shape to the body, but formerly worn also by men. ( Hall, Satires.) Stays were originally, as at present, made in two pieces laced together: hence the plural form. In composition the singular is always used: as, stay lace, staymaker. See corset, 3. They could not ken her middle sae jimp, The stays o' gowd were so well laced. .. The Bonny Bows o' London (Child's Ballads, II. 361). 31. A fastening for a garment; hence, a hook; a clasp; anything to hang another thing on. Cotgrave. To my dear daughter Philippa, queen of Portugal, my second best stay of gold, and a gold cup and cover. Test. Vetust., p. 142, quoted in Hall i well. IMG:content-2039.png:[blocks in formation] stay2 (stā), v.; pret. and pp. stayed, staid, ppr. staying. [ OF. estayer, F. étayer, prop, stay, And Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. Ex. xvii. 12. A young head, not so well stayed as I would it were,... having many, many fancies begotten in it, if it had not been in some way delivered, would have grown a monster. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, Ded. Let that stay and comfort thy heart. Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 442. 2. To stop. (a) To detain; keep back; delay; hinder. Your ships are stay'd at Venice. Shak., T. of the S., iv. 2. 83. If I could stay this letter an hour, I should send you something of Savoy. Donne, Letters, xlix. This bus in e e staide me in London almost a weeke. Evelyn , Diary, Nov. 14, 1671. (b) To restrain; withhold; check; stop. If I can hereby either prouoke the good or staye the ill, I shall thinke my writing herein well imployed. Ascham , The Scholemaster, p. 70. Why do you look so strangely, fearfully, Or stay your deathful hand? If I receive money for your tobacco before Mr. Randall content to stay till I can. Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 424. For present deliverance, they do not much expect it; for they stay for their glory, and then they shall have it, when their Prince comes in his, and the glory of the angels. Bunyan , Pilgrim's Progre , p. 127. 6. To wait as an attendant; give ceremonious or submi ive attendance: with on or upon. I have a servant comes with me along, That stays upon me. Shak., M. for M., iv. 1. 47. To stay put, to remain where placed; remain fixed. [Colloq.]=Syn. 4. To rest, lodge, delay.