The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - stay° v.

1) remain, stop, continue, tarry, wait, stand, Colloq freeze: Stay where you are or I'll shoot! 2 remain, stop, lodge, sojourn, abide, reside, dwell, live, visit: I heard that Sheila was back in town, staying at her aunt's. 3) keep, remain, continue to be: I was having trouble staying awake. 4) stop, arrest, thwart, prevent, put an end to, halt, interrupt, block, check; curb, retard, slow, impede, foil, obstruct, hamper, hinder, discourage, deter; delay, postpone, put off, discontinue, defer, Technical prorogue: Only one man has the authority to stay the execution. What can be done to stay the advance of the killer bees? 5 linger, loiter, wait, tarry, stop, remain, Archaic bide: I like this part of the world and plan to stay here a while. --n. 6) stop, stoppage, arrest, set-back, check, halt, prevention, discontinuance, discontinuation, interruption, blockage, delay, postponement, deferment, deferral, reprieve: Have you been able to arrange a stay in carrying out the sentence? 7 stopover, sojourn, visit, stop: We really enjoyed our stay at Fred's house in Fort Lauderdale.