stage

plural stages

1. A phase.

   He is in the recovery stage of his illness.

   5 more examples

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

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

   1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC

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

   1986, Daniel Woodrell, Under the Bright Lights, page 66

   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.

   2002, Donald Keene, Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 588

   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.

   2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21

   Synonyms: tier, level, lap

2. broadlyOne 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.

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

   The band returned to the stage to play an encore.

   3 more examples

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

   1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC

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

   1829, Charles Sprague, Curiosity

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

   1891, Oscar Wilde, Intentions

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.

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

   3 more examples

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

   I went in the sixpenny stage.

   1711 April 14, letter to Stella, Jonathan Swift

   a parcel sent you by the stage

   1782, William Cowper, “Conversation”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC

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

   a stage of ten miles

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

   1807, Francis Jeffrey, “Clarkson on Quakerism”, in The Edinburgh Review April 1807

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

   1858, Samuel Smiles, Robert Stephenson, The Life of George Stephenson: Railway Engineer, page 356

   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, […].

   1910, Emerson Hough, chapter 3, in The Purchase Price

   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.

   1962 December, “Dr. Beeching previews the plan for British Railways”, in Modern Railways, page 377

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

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

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

    He placed the slide on the stage.

12. video gamesA level; one of the areas making up the game.

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

    1 more example

    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.

    2007 December 28, Chris Slate, “Get Ready to Smash”, in Nintendo Power, volume 222, page 49

    Synonyms: level

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

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

    c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]

    3 more examples

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

    c. 1630, John Milton, “The Passion”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 16

    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.

    2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC

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

    2015, Gary Andres, Paul Hernnson, Lobbying Reconsidered: Politics Under the Influence, page 149

14. geographyThe succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic time scale.
15. CanadaQuebecAn internship.
16. The notional space within which stereo sounds are positioned, determining where they will appear to come from when played back.

    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.

    2013, Roey Izhaki, Mixing Audio: Concepts, Practices and Tools, page 391

17. metonymicallyuncountablewith definite articleThe profession of an actor.

    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)

    1882 November 25 (first performance), W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert; Arthur Sullivan, music, […] Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri, London: Chappell & Co., […], published [1885?], act I

present singular third person stages · participle present staging · participle past staged · past staged

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

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

2. transitiveTo arrange in a manner intended to deceive.

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

   Synonyms: fake

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

   to stage a house or flat

4. transitiveTo orchestrate; to carry out.

   The workers staged a strike.

   3 more examples

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

   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.

   1955 February, T. B. Sands, “The Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 79

5. transitiveTo place in position to prepare for use.

   to stage data to be written at a later time

   1 more example

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

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

   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); […]

   2010, Howard M. Fillit, Kenneth Rockwood, Kenneth Woodhouse, Brocklehurst's Textbook of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, page 940

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

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

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

plural stages

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

   1 more example

   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.

   2023 June 23, Tejal Rao, “‘The Bear’ Finds Optimism in the Dysfunctional World of Hospitality”, in The New York Times

present singular third person stages · participle present staging · participle past staged · past staged

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

   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.

   2023, C Pam Zhang, Land of Milk and Honey, Hutchinson Heinemann, page 36

plural Stages

1. A surname.