STAY

Dictionary of Science, Literature and Art · 1854 · p. 30

A strong rope from the mast head, leading forward to support it from falling aft. It takes the name of the mast, as the fore stay, main-topmast stay, . Tj stay, means to tack. To be in stays, is to be in the act of arXing. To mi stays, signifies to fail in attempting to tar-c [s. 1175]