stage Hear it!

stage Definition

stage (stāj)

noun

  1. a platform or dock
  2. a scaffold for workmen
  3. a level, floor, or story
    1. a platform on which plays, speeches, etc. are presented
    2. any area, as in an arena theater, in which actors perform
    3. the whole working section of a theater, including the acting area, the backstage area, etc.
    4. the theater, drama, or acting as a profession: with the
    1. the scene of an event or series of events
    2. the center of attention
  6. a place where a stop is made on a journey, esp., formerly, a regular stopping point for a stagecoach
  7. the distance or a part of a route between two stopping places; leg of a journey
  8. stagecoach
  9. a shelf attached to a microscope for holding the object to be viewed
  10. a period, level, or degree in a process of development, growth, or change the larval stage of an insect
  11. any of two or more propulsion units used, in sequence, as the launch vehicle of a missile, spacecraft, etc.: when no longer operational or useful, the lower stages usually separate and fall back to earth
  12. Electronics a component, circuit, etc. that does one specific job, as amplification, while being a part of a larger, more complex system
  13. Geol. a subdivision of a series of stratified rocks consisting of the rocks laid down during a geologic age

Etymology: ME < OFr estage < VL *staticum < L status, pp. of stare, to stand

transitive verb staged, stag′·ing

  1. to present, represent, or exhibit on or as on a stage
  2. ☆ to plan, arrange, and carry out to stage a counteroffensive

intransitive verb

to be suitable for presentation on the stage a play that stages well

stage Idioms

by easy stages

  1. traveling only a short distance at a time
  2. working or acting unhurriedly, with stops for rest
stage Synonyms

stage

n.

  1. The theater

    boards, scene, parascene, limelight*, spotlight*; see also drama 1.

  2. A platform

    frame, scaffold, staging; see platform 1.

  3. A level, period, or degree

    grade, plane, step; see degree 1.

by easy stages

easily, gently, taking one's time*, one stop at a time; see slowly.

stage Usage Examples

Object

  • sit-in: Ms. Manuel staged a televised sit-in at the Council's Crowndale Center with disabled campaigners as a final protest in her five-year struggle.
  • demonstration: Artisans from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra staged craft demonstrations and sold their work.

Converse of object

  • reach: A very important museum in a major city has reached the second stage of a Lottery bid.
  • enter: Both failed to enter the second stage of the finals.

Adjective modifier

  • early: During the early stages of the online signup process you will be provided with a list of hardware costs.
  • key: NRICH publishes a magazine nine times a year with sections for each key stage.
  • final: Most of the pipe work has already been laid - the final stage will consist mostly of the reinstatement of turf.
  • next: The next stage was taking the synopsis to a full text layout for approval.
  • Key: The first Key Stage 3 SATs results are in.
  • late: Hope to read more interesting pieces at a later stage.

Modifies a noun

  • presence: What excellent stage presence, in a young member.
  • debut: In 2004 she was delighted to make her West End stage debut as Young Cosette in Les Misérables at the Queen's Theater.

Noun used with modifier

  • closing: The bronze was secure, but a desperate effort in the closing stages brought silver, by one-hundredth of a second from Russia.
  • planning: Road schemes which had been judged essential were only at the early planning stages, with no identified routes.
  • center: Perhaps rather than occupy center stage the church should be working in the wings.

Preposition: of

  • pregnancy: In the later stages of pregnancy some substantial physiological changes occur.
  • process: During the early stages of the online signup process you will be provided with a list of hardware costs.
  • development: I've included some of the sites early pages to show the stages of development the site has gone through.
  • cycle: A lunar month lasts 29.5 days. Many cycles are coordinated with the lunar month or with stages of the lunar cycle.
stage Quotes

David, you are an actor everywhere but upon the stage.

—Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of

   Well, I will scourge those apes, And to these courteous eyes oppose a mirror, As large as is the stage whereon we act; Where they shall see the time's deformity Anatomised in every nerve, and sinew, With constant courage, and contempt of fear.

—Jonson, Ben

How often are we to die before we go quite off this stage? Inevery friend we losea part ofourselves, and the best part.

—Pope, Alexander

Awake my soul, and with the sun Thy daily stage of duty run.

—Ken,Thomas

Don't put your daughter on the stage, Mrs Worthington, Don't put your daughter on the stage.

—Coward, Sir Noe«  l Peirce

Soit donc que vous composiez, soit donc que vous jouiez, ne pensez non plus au spectateur que s'il n'existait pas. Imaginez sur le bord du the¤  a"  tre, un grand mur qui vous se¤  pare du parterre; jouez comme si la toile ne se levait pas. Whether you compose or act, think no more of the spectator than if he did not exist. Imagine at the edge of the stage a large wall which separates you from the orchestra; act as if the curtain never rose.

—Diderot, Denis

We get richer and richer in filthier and filthier communities until we reach a final stage of affluent miseryöa crocus on a garbage heap.

—Gardner,JohnWilliam

Who saw life steadily, and saw it whole: The mellow glory of the Attic stage; Singer of sweet Colonus, and its child.

—Arnold, Matthew

A play for me never really takes on an aspect of reality until it has left the dryair of the study and begins to sniff the musty breezes of a bare stage.

—Hart, Moss

On the stage he was natural, simple, affecting; 'Twas only that when he was off he was acting.

—Goldsmith, Oliver

Une ample Come¤  die a'   cent actes divers, Et dont la sce'  ne est l'Univers. A grand comedy in one hundred different acts, On the stage of the universe.

—La Fontaine,Jean de

Freeing hostages is like putting up a stage setöwhich you do with the captors, agreeing on each piece as you slowly put it together. Then you leave an exit through which both the captor and the captive can walk with sincerityand dignity.

—Waite,Terry (Terence Hardy)

It is only in science, I find, that we can get outside ourselves. It's realistic, and to a great degree verifiable, and it has this tremendous stage on which it plays. I have the same feelingöto a certain degreeöabout some religious expressions†but only to a certain degree. For me, the proper study of mankind is science, which also means that the proper study of mankind is man.

—Rabi, Isidor Isaac

Self-pity in its early stage is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable.

—Angelou, Maya originally MayaJohnson

The stage but echoes back the public voice. The drama's laws the drama's patrons give, For we, who live to please, must please to live.

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson

There are compensations for growing older.One is the realization that to be sporting isn't at all necessary. It is a great relief to reach this stage of wisdom.

—Skinner, Cornelia Otis

But, thanks to wine-less and democracy, We've still our stage where truth calls spade a spade!

—Browning, Robert

When the final curtain comes down, it's time to get off the stage.

—Major,John

Name me one character in literature or drama who can't be described as neurotic† We wouldn't want to know the people we get to see on the stage. How would you like to have Medea for dinner? Or Macbeth slurping your soup? Or Oedipus with his bloody, blinded eyes dripping all over your tablecloth?

—Page, Geraldine

   The United Nations cannot do anything, and never could. It is not an animate entity or agent. It is a place, a stage, a forum and a shrine†a place to which powerful people can repair when they are fearful about the course on which their own rhetoric seems to be propelling them.

—Oates,Joyce Carol

Where's the stage and what's the play?

—Booth,Junius Brutus

Soul of the Age! The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage!

—Jonson, Ben