stage — English Dictionary

stage
Pronunciations (3)
  • /steɪd͡ʒ/
  • /stɑːʒ/
  • steɪd͡ʒ

Noun

  1. A phase.

    Examples

    He is in the recovery stage of his illness.

    Completion of an identifiable stage of maintenance such as removing an aircraft engine for repair or storage.

    More examples (4)

    Such a polity is suited only to a particular stage in the progress of society.

    "They're bikini briefs", Nicole said. "That just means sexy underwear." "I though naked was sexy." "Well, it is. But sexy comes in stages".

    The Russians had promised to withdraw in three stages. One stage had been completed, and the railway between Shan-hai-kwan and Ying-k’ou (Newchang) had been returned, but all this meant was that the Russians had moved their troops from Liao-hsi, a region where they had few interests, to their major base at Liaotung.

    Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, and so we entered stage three – what therapists call "bargaining". A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.

  2. One of the portions of a device (such as a rocket or thermonuclear weapon) which are used or activated in a particular order, one after another.

    Usage
    • broadly
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    The first stage of the launcher burned out and separated after successfully boosting the payload onto a suborbital trajectory, but the engine of the upper stage failed to ignite to place the satellite into orbit.

  3. A platform; a surface, generally elevated, upon which show performances or other public events are given.

    Examples

    The band returned to the stage to play an encore.

    Knights, squires, and steeds must enter on the stage.

    More examples (2)

    Lo! Where the stage, the poor, degraded stage, / Holds its warped mirror to a gaping age.

    The stage is not merely the meeting place of all the arts, it is also the return of art to life.

  4. A floor or storey of a house.

  5. A floor elevated for the convenience of mechanical work, etc.; scaffolding; staging.

  6. A platform, often floating, serving as a kind of wharf.

  7. A stagecoach, an enclosed horsedrawn carriage used to carry passengers; the service that such coaches provide; a company that operates such service.

    Examples

    The stage pulled into town carrying the payroll for the mill and three ladies.

    In the 1880s he ran a stage that connected various interior towns with the coastal port.

    More examples (2)

    I went in the sixpenny stage.

    a parcel sent you by the stage

  8. A place of rest on a regularly travelled road; a station, way station; a place appointed for a relay of horses.

    Usage
    • Dated
  9. A degree of advancement in a journey; one of several portions into which a road or course is marked off; the distance between two places of rest on a road.

    Usage
    • Dated
    Examples

    a stage of ten miles

    A stage […] signifies a certain distance on a road.

    More examples (3)

    He travelled by gig, with his wife, his favourite horse performing the journey by easy stages.

    The Mount Vernon, favoured by a good stage of water, soon cleared the narrow Monongahela channel, passed the confluence, and headed down under full steam, […].

    At present, however, in spite of vigorous efforts to increase through train working, the stage-by-stage movement of individual wagons remains the normal method of freight movement.

  10. The number of an electronic circuit’s block, such as a filter, an amplifier, etc.

    Examples

    a 3-stage cascade of a 2nd-order bandpass Butterworth filter

  11. The place on a microscope where the slide is located for viewing.

    Examples

    He placed the slide on the stage.

  12. A level; one of the areas making up the game.

    Synonyms
    Examples

    How do you get past the flying creatures in the third stage?

    More examples (1)

    Additionally, popular supporting characters make cameos on certain stages, such as in Smashville, where you'll find Tom Nook and other familiar faces from Animal Crossing.

  13. A place where anything is publicly exhibited, or a remarkable affair occurs; the scene.

    Examples

    When we are born, we cry that we are come / To this stage of fools.

    Ere while of Muſick, and Ethereal mirth, Wherewith the ſtage of Ayr and Earth did ring,

    More examples (2)

    Rooney's United team-mate Chris Smalling was given his debut at right-back and was able to adjust to the international stage in relatively relaxed fashion as Bulgaria barely posed a threat of any consequence.

    Paid media is the admission ticket to enter the big-time Washington stage.

  14. The succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic time scale.

  15. An internship.

    Usage
    • Canada
    • Quebec
  16. The notional space within which stereo sounds are positioned, determining where they will appear to come from when played back.

    Examples

    This way, we simply stretch the image of a monophonic sound across a wider area on the stereo stage and create an altogether bigger impression.

  17. The profession of an actor.

    Usage
    • metonymically
    • Uncountable
    • with-definite-article
    Examples

    In other professions in which men engage / (Said I to myself, said I), / The Army, the Navy, the Church and the Stage / (Said I to myself, said I)

Verb

  1. To produce on a stage, to perform a play.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples

    The local theater group will stage "Pride and Prejudice".

  2. To arrange in a manner intended to deceive.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples

    The salesman's demonstration of the new cleanser was staged to make it appear highly effective.

  3. To furnish and decorate (a property) to make it more appealing to potential buyers.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples

    to stage a house or flat

  4. To orchestrate; to carry out.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples

    The workers staged a strike.

    A protest will be staged in the public square on Monday.

    More examples (2)

    They wanted to put in a new government, so they staged a coup.

    But capital was proving difficult to raise; rumours were in the air that the G.W.R. and L.S.W.R. were about to patch up their quarrel, and the people of Southampton, who twelve months earlier had staged a torch-light procession to celebrate the passing of the D.N.S.R. Act, were increasingly loath to part with their cash.

  5. To place in position to prepare for use.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples

    We staged the cars to be ready for the start, then waited for the starter to drop the flag.

    to stage data to be written at a later time

  6. To determine what stage (a disease, etc.) has progressed to

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    One method of documenting a wound is as follows: (1) stage the ulcer, time present, setting where occurred; (2) describe the location anatomically; (3) measure ulcer in centimeters (length × width × base); […]

  7. To jettison a spent stage of a multistage rocket or other launch vehicle and light the engine(s) of the stage above it.

    Examples

    In Kerbal Space Program, you stage away used-up parts of your rocket by hitting the spacebar.

  8. To work an internship, usually as a chef or waiter.

    Usage
    • Canada
    • US usage
    • Intransitive

Noun

  1. An unpaid internship in a restaurant where a cook or chef is exposed to new culinary techniques.

    Related words
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    It doesn’t matter that recent reporting on the stage economy of Copenhagen […] has revealed a pattern of abuse and dangerous working conditions for unpaid interns. In “The Bear,” the stage is a dream: Marcus’s tasks are simply to learn from a skilled but kind and patient mentor, to get out and about and feel inspired, and to come up with some new dishes of his own.

Verb

  1. To work as an unpaid intern in a restaurant.

    Usage
    • Intransitive
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    I’ve been chosen to stage at Coloniál, the Michelin-starred restaurant that I will one day lie about running. Stage is restaurant-speak for free labor, but I’m unconcerned.

Noun

  1. any distinct time period in a sequence of events

    Synonyms
    Examples

    we are in a transitional stage in which many former ideas must be revised or rejected

  2. a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process

    Broader terms
    Examples

    a remarkable degree of frankness

    at what stage are the social sciences?

  3. a large platform on which people can stand and can be seen by an audience

    Broader terms
    Examples

    he clambered up onto the stage and got the actors to help him into the box

  4. the theater as a profession (usually ‘the stage’)

    Examples

    an early movie simply showed a long kiss by two actors of the contemporary stage

  5. a large coach-and-four formerly used to carry passengers and mail on regular routes between towns

    Synonyms
    Examples

    we went out of town together by stage about ten or twelve miles

  6. a section or portion of a journey or course

    Synonyms
    Examples

    then we embarked on the second stage of our Caribbean cruise

  7. any scene regarded as a setting for exhibiting or doing something

    Broader terms
    Examples

    it set the stage for peaceful negotiations

  8. a small platform on a microscope where the specimen is mounted for examination

    Broader terms

Verb

  1. perform (a play), especially on a stage

    Broader terms
    Examples

    we are going to stage ‘Othello’

  2. plan, organize, and carry out (an event)

    Synonyms
    Broader terms
    Examples

    the neighboring tribe staged an invasion

Word forms
stagesstagesstagingstagedstaged

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