stay in WordNet English dictionary

1. dwell
   "You can stay with me while you are in town"; "stay a bit longer--the day is still young"
   bide  abide  stay 
   
2. overcome or allay
   "quell my hunger"
   quell  stay  appease 
   
3. continue in a place, position, or situation
   "After graduation, she stayed on in Cambridge as a student adviser"; "Stay with me, please"; "despite student protests, he remained Dean for another year"; "She continued as deputy mayor for another year"
   stay  stay on  continue  remain 
   
4. stop or halt
   "Please stay the bloodshed!"
   stay  detain  delay 
   
5. hang on during a trial of endurance
   "ride out the storm"
   last out  stay  ride out  outride 
   
6. stay behind
   "The smell stayed in the room"; "The hostility remained long after they made up"
   persist  remain  stay 
   
7. stay the same; remain in a certain state
   "The dress remained wet after repeated attempts to dry it"; "rest assured"; "stay alone"; "He remained unmoved by her tears"; "The bad weather continued for another week"
   stay  remain  rest 
   
8. fasten with stays
   stay 
   
9. stay put (in a certain place)
   "We are staying in Detroit; we are not moving to Cincinnati"; "Stay put in the corner here!"; "Stick around and you will learn something!"
   stay  stick  stick around  stay put 
   
10. remain behind
    "I had to stay at home and watch the children"
    stay 
    
11. stop a judicial process
    "The judge stayed the execution order"
    stay 
    

1. the state of inactivity following an interruption
   "the negotiations were in arrest"; "held them in check"; "during the halt he got some lunch"; "the momentary stay enabled him to escape the blow"; "he spent the entire stop in his seat"
   arrest  check  halt  hitch  stay  stop  stoppage 
   
2. continuing or remaining in a place or state
   "they had a nice stay in Paris"; "a lengthy hospital stay"; "a four-month stay in bankruptcy court"
   stay 
   
3. (nautical) brace consisting of a heavy rope or wire cable used as a support for a mast or spar
   stay 
   
4. a thin strip of metal or bone that is used to stiffen a garment (e.g. a corset)
   stay 
   
5. a judicial order forbidding some action until an event occurs or the order is lifted
   "the Supreme Court has the power to stay an injunction pending an appeal to the whole Court"
   stay