stay

If you do this, you remain where you are instead of leaving.

• Please stay here.
• She stayed in bed all morning.
• Will you stay at home tonight?

How to use it: stay in/at a place (Please stay in the car.)

Similar words: remain

Opposites: leave

Common phrases: stay here, stay in bed, stay at home, stay put

To spend some time in a place, often sleeping there during a visit.

• We stayed at a hotel.
• Can I stay with you this weekend?
• They are staying in Rome for a month.

How to use it: stay at/in a place (We stayed at a small hotel.); stay with someone (I stayed with my cousin.); stay for a period (They stayed for three nights.)

Similar words: stop over

Common phrases: stay at a hotel, stay with someone, stay for a week

To continue to be in the same state or condition.

• Try to stay calm.
• The soup stayed warm for hours.
• How do you stay awake during long journeys?

How to use it: stay + adjective (The door stayed open all night.)

Similar words: remain

Common phrases: stay calm, stay warm, stay awake, stay healthy

A period of time you spend in a place, especially as a visitor or patient.

• Enjoy your stay.
• His hospital stay lasted three days.
• We have had several short stays in that village.

How to use it: a stay in/at a place (Her stay in hospital lasted a week.); a stay with someone (We enjoyed our stay with your family.)

Similar words: visit

Common phrases: a short stay, hospital stay, during your stay, an overnight stay

A stiff strip inside clothing that helps it keep its shape.

• The collar needs a stay.
• She replaced the broken stays in her corset.
• Remove the metal stays before washing the shirt.

Similar words: stiffener

Common phrases: collar stay, a plastic stay, a metal stay

A person or thing that supports someone or holds something in place.

• Her brother was her only stay.
• A wooden stay held the frame upright.
• These stays support the roof.

Similar words: support, prop

Common phrases: a faithful stay, her only stay, a wooden stay

In some varieties of English, this marks an action or state that happens regularly or all the time.

• He stay talking during class.
• They stay arguing about money.
• She stay busy on weekends.

How to use it: stay + -ing (In his neighborhood, “She stay working” means she works all the time.)

Similar words: always, constantly

Common phrases: stay talking, stay working, stay busy