Chapter 1620

Stag beetle (Zo\'94l.) , any one of numerous species of lamellicorn beetles belonging to Lucanus and allied genera, especially L. cervus of Europe and L. dama of the United States. The mandibles are large and branched, or forked, whence the name. The lava feeds on the rotten wood of dead trees. Called also horned bug , and horse beetle . -- Stag dance , a dance by men only. [slang, U.S.] -- Stag hog (Zo\'94l.) , the babiroussa. -- Stag-horn coral (Zo\'94l.) , any one of several species of large branching corals of the genus Madrepora , which somewhat resemble the antlers of the stag, especially Madrepora cervicornis , and M. palmata , of Florida and the West Indies. -- Stag-horn fern (Bot.) , an Australian and West African fern ( Platycerium alcicorne ) having the large fronds branched like a stag's horns; also, any species of the same genus. -- Stag-horn sumac (Bot.) , a common American shrub ( Rhus typhina ) having densely velvety branchlets. See Sumac . -- Stag party , a party consisting of men only. [Slang, U. S.] -- Stag tick (Zo\'94l.) , a parasitic dipterous insect of the family Hippoboscid\'91 , which lives upon the stag and in usually wingless. The same species lives also upon the European grouse, but in that case has wings.

Stag <Xpage=1399>

Stag , v. i. (Com.) To act as a "stag", or irregular dealer in stocks. [Cant]

Stag <Xpage=1399>

Stag , v. t. To watch; to dog, or keep track of. [Prov. Eng. or Slang]

H. Kingsley.

Stage <Xpage=1399>

Stage (?) , n. [OF. estage , F. \'82tage , (assumed) LL. staticum , from L. stare to stand. See Stand , and cf. Static .] 1. A floor or story of a house. [Obs.]

Wyclif.

2. An elevated platform on which an orator may speak, a play be performed, an exhibition be presented, or the like.

3. A floor elevated for the convenience of mechanical work, or the like; a scaffold; a staging.

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

5. The floor for scenic performances; hence, the theater; the playhouse; hence, also, the profession of representing dramatic compositions; the drama, as acted or exhibited. <-- stars of stage and screen -->

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

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

6. A place where anything is publicly exhibited; the scene of any noted action or carrer; the spot where any remarkable affair occurs.

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

Music and ethereal mirth Wherewith the stage of air and earth did ring. Miton.

7. The platform of a microscope, upon which an object is placed to be viewed. See Illust . of Microscope .

8. A place of rest on a regularly traveled road; a stage house; a station; a place appointed for a relay of horses.

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; as, a stage of ten miles .

A stage . . . signifies a certain distance on a road. Jeffrey.

He traveled by gig, with his wife, his favorite horse performing the journey by easy stages . Smiles.

10. A degree of advancement in any pursuit, or of progress toward an end or result.

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

11. A large vehicle running from station to station for the accomodation of the public; a stagecoach; an omnibus. "A parcel sent you by the stage ."

Cowper.

I went in the sixpenny stage . Swift.

12. (Biol.) One of several marked phases or periods in the development and growth of many animals and plants; as, the larval stage ; pupa stage ; z\'d2a stage .

Stage box , a box close to the stage in a theater. -- Stage carriage , a stagecoach. -- Stage door , the actor's and workmen's entrance to a theater. -- Stage lights , the lights by which the stage in a theater is illuminated. -- Stage micrometer , a graduated device applied to the stage of a microscope for measuring the size of an object. -- Stage wagon , a wagon which runs between two places for conveying passengers or goods. -- Stage whisper , a loud whisper, as by an actor in a theater, supposed, for dramatic effect, to be unheard by one or more of his fellow actors, yet audible to the audience; an aside. <-- stage of the game , [Colloq.] stage n. 10. -->

Stage <Xpage=1399>

Stage (?) , v. t. To exhibit upon a stage, or as upon a stage; to display publicly.

Shak.

Stagecoach <Xpage=1399>

Stage"coach` (?) , n. A coach that runs regularly from one stage, station, or place to another, for the conveyance of passengers.

Stagecoachman <Xpage=1399>

Stage"coach`man (?) , n. ; pl. Stagecoachmen (<?/) . One who drives a stagecoach.

Stagehouse <Xpage=1399>

Stage"house` (?) , n. A house where a stage regularly stops for passengers or a relay of horses.

Stagely <Xpage=1399>

Stage"ly , a. Pertaining to a stage; becoming the theater; theatrical. [Obs.]

Jer. Taylor.

Stageplay <Xpage=1399>

Stage"play` (?) , n. A dramatic or theatrical entertainment.

Dryden.

Stageplayer <Xpage=1399>

Stage"play`er (?) , n. An actor on the stage; one whose occupation is to represent characters on the stage; as, Garrick was a celebrated stageplayer .

Stager <Xpage=1399>

Sta"ger (?) , n. 1. A player. [R.]

B. Jonson.

2. One who has long acted on the stage of life; a practitioner; a person of experience, or of skill derived from long experience. "You will find most of the old stagers still stationary there."

Sir W. Scott.

3. A horse used in drawing a stage. [Colloq.]

Stagery <Xpage=1399>

Sta"ger*y (?) , n. Exhibition on the stage. [Obs.]

Stage-struck <Xpage=1399>

Stage"-struck` (?) , a. Fascinated by the stage; seized by a passionate desire to become an actor.

Stag-evil <Xpage=1399>

Stag"-e`vil (?) , n. (Far.) A kind of palsy affecting the jaw of a horse.

Crabb.

Staggard <Xpage=1399>

Stag"gard (?) , n. [From Stag .] (Zo\'94l.) The male red deer when four years old.

Stagger <Xpage=1399>

Stag"ger (?) , v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Staggered (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Staggering .] [OE. stakeren , Icel. stakra to push, to stagger, fr. staka to punt, push, stagger; cf. OD. staggeren to stagger. Cf. Stake , n. ] 1. To move to one side and the other, as if about to fall, in standing or walking; not to stand or walk with steadiness; to sway; to reel or totter.

Deep was the wound; he staggered with the blow. Dryden.

2. To cease to stand firm; to begin to give way; to fail. "The enemy staggers ."

Addison.

3. To begin to doubt and waver in purposes; to become less confident or determined; to hesitate.

He [Abraham] staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. Rom. iv. 20.

Stagger <Xpage=1399>

Stag"ger , v. t. 1. To cause to reel or totter.

That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire That staggers thus my person. Shak.

2. To cause to doubt and waver; to make to hesitate; to make less steady or confident; to shock.

Whosoever will read the story of this war will find himself much stagered . Howell.

Grants to the house of Russell were so enormous, as not only to outrage economy, but even to stagger credibility. Burke.

3. To arrange (a series of parts) on each side of a median line alternately, as the spokes of a wheel or the rivets of a boiler seam.

Stagger <Xpage=1399>

Stag"ger , n. 1. An unsteady movement of the body in walking or standing, as if one were about to fall; a reeling motion; vertigo; -- often in the plural; as, the stagger of a drunken man .

2. pl. (Far.) A disease of horses and other animals, attended by reeling, unsteady gait or sudden falling; as, parasitic staggers ; appopletic or sleepy staggers .

3. pl. Bewilderment; perplexity. [R.]

Shak.

Stomach staggers (Far.) , distention of the stomach with food or gas, resulting in indigestion, frequently in death.

Staggerbush <Xpage=1399>

Stag"ger*bush` (?) , n. (Bot.) An American shrub ( Andromeda Mariana ) having clusters of nodding white flowers. It grows in low, sandy places, and is said to poison lambs and calves.

Gray.

Staggeringly <Xpage=1399>

Stag"ger*ing*ly , adv. In a staggering manner.

Staggerwort <Xpage=1399>

Stag"ger*wort` (?) , n. (Bot.) A kind of ragwort ( Senecio Jacob\'91a ).

Stag-horn coral, Stag-horn fern <Xpage=1399>

Stag"-horn` co"ral (?) , Stag"-horn` fern` (?) , etc. See under Stag .

Stag-horned <Xpage=1399>

Stag"-horned` (?) , a. (Zo\'94l.) Having the mandibles large and palmate, or branched somewhat like the antlers of a stag; -- said of certain beetles.

Staghound <Xpage=1399>

Stag"hound` (?) , n. (Zo\'94l.) A large and powerful hound formerly used in hunting the stag, the wolf, and other large animals. The breed is nearly extinct.

Staging <Xpage=1399>

Sta"ging (?) , n. A structure of posts and boards for supporting workmen, etc., as in building.

2. The business of running stagecoaches; also, the act of journeying in stagecoaches.

Stagirite <Xpage=1399>

Stag"i*rite (?) , n. A native of, or resident in, Stagira , in ancient Macedonia; especially, Aristotle. [Written also Stagyrite .]

Stagnancy <Xpage=1399>

Stag"nan*cy (?) , n. State of being stagnant.

Stagnant <Xpage=1399>

Stag"nant (?) , a. [L. stagnans , -antis , p.pr. of stagnare . See Stagnate .] 1. That stagnates; not flowing; not running in a current or steam; motionless; hence, impure or foul from want of motion; as, a stagnant lake or pond; stagnant blood in the veins.

2. Not active or brisk; dull; as, business in stagnant .

That gloomy slumber of the stagnant soul. Johnson.

For him a stagnant life was not worth living. Palfrey.

Stagnantly <Xpage=1399>

Stag"nant*ly , adv. In a stagnant manner.

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Stagnate <Xpage=1400>

Stag"nate (?) , v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Stagnated (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Stagnating .] [L. stagnatus , p.p. of stagnare to stagnate, make stagnant, from stagnum a piece of standing water. See Stank a pool, and cf. Stanch , v. t. ] 1. To cease to flow; to be motionless; as, blood stagnates in the veins of an animal ; hence, to become impure or foul by want of motion; as, air stagnates in a close room .

2. To cease to be brisk or active; to become dull or inactive; as, commerce stagnates ; business stagnates .

Ready-witted tenderness . . . never stagnates in vain lamentations while there is any room for hope. Sir W. Scott.

Stagnate <Xpage=1400>

Stag"nate (?) , a. Stagnant. [Obs.] "A stagnate mass of vapors."

Young.

Stagnation <Xpage=1400>

Stag*na"tion (?) , n. [Cf. F. stagnation .] 1. The condition of being stagnant; cessation of flowing or circulation, as of a fluid; the state of being motionless; as, the stagnation of the blood; the stagnation of water or air; the stagnation of vapors .

2. The cessation of action, or of brisk action; the state of being dull; as, the stagnation of business .

Stagworm <Xpage=1400>

Stag"worm (?) , n. (Zo\'94l.) The larve of any species of botfly which is parasitic upon the stag, as <OE/strus, or Hypoderma, act\'91on , which burrows beneath the skin, and Cephalomyia auribarbis , which lives in the nostrils.

Stahlian <Xpage=1400>

Stahl"ian (?) , a. Pertaining to, or taught by, Stahl , a German physician and chemist of the 17th century; as, the Stahlian theory of phlogiston .

Stahlian <Xpage=1400>

Stahl"ian , n. A believer in, or advocate of, Stahlism.

Stahlism, Stahlianism <Xpage=1400>

Stahl"ism (?) , Stahl"ian*ism (?) , n. The Stahlian theoru, that every vital action is function or operation of the soul.

Stail <Xpage=1400>

Stail (?) , imp. & p. p. of Stay .

Staid <Xpage=1400>

Staid , a. [From Stay to stop.] Sober; grave; steady; sedate; composed; regular; not wild, volatile, or fanciful. "Sober and staid persons."

Addison.

O'erlaid with black, staid Wisdom's hue. Milton.

Syn. -- Sober; grave; steady; steadfast; composed; regular; sedate.

Staidly <Xpage=1400>

Staid"ly , adv. In a staid manner, sedately.

Staidness <Xpage=1400>

Staid"ness , n. The quality or state of being staid; seriousness; steadiness; sedateness; regularity; -- the opposite of wildness , or levity .

If sometimes he appears too gray, yet a secret gracefulness of youth accompanies his writings, though the staidness and sobriety of age wanting. Dryden.

Syn. -- Sobriety; gravity; steadiness; regularity; constancy; firmness; stability; sedateness.

Stail <Xpage=1400>

Stail (?) , n. A handle, as of a mop; a stale. [Eng.]

Stain <Xpage=1400>

Stain (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Stained (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Staining .] [Abbrev. fr. distain .] 1. To discolor by the application of foreign matter; to make foul; to spot; as, to stain the hand with dye; armor stained with blood .

2. To color, as wood, glass, paper, cloth, or the like, by processess affecting, chemically or otherwise, the material itself; to tinge with a color or colors combining with, or penetrating, the substance; to dye; as, to stain wood with acids, colored washes, paint rubbed in, etc.; to stain glass .

3. To spot with guilt or infamy; to bring reproach on; to blot; to soil; to tarnish.

Of honor void, Of innocence, of faith, of purity, Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained . Milton.

4. To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison.

She stains the ripest virgins of her age. Beau. & Fl.

That did all other beasts in beauty stain . Spenser.

Stained glass , glass colored or stained by certain metallic pigments fused into its substance, -- often used for making ornament windows.

Syn. -- To paint; dye; blot; soil; sully; discolor; disgrace; taint. -- Paint , Stain , Dye . These denote three different processes; the first mechanical, the other two, chiefly chemical. To paint a thing is so spread a coat of coloring matter over it; to stain or dye a thing is to impart color to its substance. To stain is said chiefly of solids, as wood, glass, paper; to dye , of fibrous substances, textile fabrics, etc.; the one, commonly, a simple process, as applying a wash; the other more complex, as fixing colors by mordants.

Stain <Xpage=1400>

Stain , v. i. To give or receive a stain; to grow dim.

Stain <Xpage=1400>

Stain , n. 1. A discoloration by foreign matter; a spot; as, a stain on a garment or cloth .

Shak.

2. A natural spot of a color different from the gound.

Swift trouts, diversified with crimson stains . Pope.

3. Taint of guilt; tarnish; disgrace; reproach.

Nor death itself can wholly wash their stains . Dryden.

Our opinion . . . is, I trust, without any blemish or stain of heresy. Hooker.

4. Cause of reproach; shame.

Sir P. Sidney.

5. A tincture; a tinge. [R.]

You have some stain of soldier in you. Shak.

Syn. -- Blot; spot; taint; pollution; blemish; tarnish; color; disgrace; infamy; shame.

Stainer <Xpage=1400>

Stain"er (?) , n. 1. One who stains or tarnishes.

2. A workman who stains; as, a stainer of wood .

Stainless <Xpage=1400>

Stain"less , a. Free from stain; immaculate.

Shak.

The veery care he took to keep his name Stainless , with some was evidence of shame. Crabbe.

Syn. -- Blameless; spotless; faultless. See Blameless .

Stainlessly <Xpage=1400>

Stain"less*ly , adv. In a stainless manner.

Stair <Xpage=1400>

Stair (?) , n. [OE. steir , steyer , AS. st<?/ger , from <?/igan to ascend, rise. &root;164. See Sty to ascend.] 1. One step of a series for ascending or descending to a different level; -- commonly applied to those within a building.

2. A series of steps, as for passing from one story of a house to another; -- commonly used in the plural; but originally used in the singular only. "I a winding stair found."

Chaucer's Dream.

Below stairs , in the basement or lower part of a house, where the servants are. -- Flight of stairs , the stairs which make the whole ascent of a story. -- Pair of stairs , a set or flight of stairs. -- pair , in this phrase, having its old meaning of a set . See Pair , n. , 1. -- Run of stars (Arch.) , a single set of stairs, or section of a stairway, from one platform to the next. -- Stair rod , a rod, usually of metal, for holding a stair carpet to its place. -- Up stairs . See Upstairs in the Vocabulary.

Staircase <Xpage=1400>

Stair"case` (?) , n. A flight of stairs with their supporting framework, casing, balusters, etc.

To make a complete staircase is a curious piece of architecture. Sir H. Wotton.

Staircase shell . (Zo\'94l.) (a) Any scalaria, or wentletrap . (b) Any species of Solarium, or perspective shell.

Stairhead <Xpage=1400>

Stair"head` (?) , n. The head or top of a staircase.

Stairway <Xpage=1400>

Stair"way` (?) , n. A flight of stairs or steps; a staircase. "A rude and narrow stairway ."

Moore.

Staith <Xpage=1400>

Staith (?) , n. [AS. st\'91<?/ a bank, shore, from the root of E. stead .] A landing place; an elevated staging upon a wharf for discharging coal, etc., as from railway cars, into vessels.

Staithman <Xpage=1400>

Staith"man (?) , n. A man employed in weighing and shipping at a staith. [Eng.]

Stake <Xpage=1400>