In-stays

[stey] /steɪ/ Chiefly Nautical

noun
1.
any of various strong ropes or wires for steadying masts, funnels, etc.
verb (used with object), stayed, staying.
2.
to support or secure with a stay or stays:
to stay a mast.
3.
to put (a ship) on the other tack.
verb (used without object), stayed, staying.
4.
(of a ship) to change to the other tack.
Idioms
5.
in stays, (of a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel) heading into the wind with sails shaking, as in coming about.
/steɪ/
verb
1.
(intransitive) to continue or remain in a certain place, position, etc: to stay outside
2.
(copula) to continue to be; remain: to stay awake
3.
(intransitive) often foll by at. to reside temporarily, esp as a guest: to stay at a hotel
4.
(transitive) to remain for a specified period: to stay the weekend
5.
(intransitive) (Scot & South African) to reside permanently or habitually; live
6.
(archaic) to stop or cause to stop
7.
(intransitive) to wait, pause, or tarry
8.
(transitive) to delay or hinder
9.
(transitive)

10.
to endure (something testing or difficult, such as a race): a horse that stays the course
11.
(intransitive) ; usually foll by with. to keep pace (with a competitor in a race, etc)
12.
(intransitive) (poker) to raise one’s stakes enough to stay in a round
13.
(transitive) to hold back or restrain: to stay one’s anger
14.
(transitive) to satisfy or appease (an appetite, etc) temporarily
15.
(transitive) (archaic) to quell or suppress
16.
(intransitive) (archaic) to stand firm
17.
stay put, See put (sense 18)
noun
18.
the act of staying or sojourning in a place or the period during which one stays
19.
the act of stopping or restraining or state of being stopped, etc
20.
the suspension of a judicial proceeding, etc: stay of execution
/steɪ/
noun
1.
anything that supports or steadies, such as a prop or buttress
2.
a thin strip of metal, plastic, bone, etc, used to stiffen corsets, etc
verb (transitive) (archaic)
3.
(often foll by up) to prop or hold
4.
(often foll by up) to comfort or sustain
5.
foll by on or upon. to cause to rely or depend
/steɪ/
noun
1.
a rope, cable, or chain, usually one of a set, used for bracing uprights, such as masts, funnels, flagpoles, chimneys, etc; guy See also stays (sense 2), stays (sense 3)
v.

“to remain,” mid-15c., from Middle French estai-, stem of ester “to stay or stand,” from Old French, from Latin stare “to stand” (cf. Italian stare, Spanish estar “to stand, to be”), from PIE root *sta- “to stand” (see stet). Originally “come to a halt;” sense of “remain” is first recorded 1570s.

Noun senses of “appliance for stopping,” “period of remaining in a place,” and (judicial) “suspension of proceeding” all developed 1525-1550. Stay-at-home (adj.) is from 1806. Stay put is first recorded 1843, American English. “To stay put is to keep still, remain in order. A vulgar expression” [Bartlett]. Phrase stay the course is originally (1885) in reference to horses holding out till the end of a race.
n.

“support, prop, brace,” 1510s, from Middle French estaie “piece of wood used as a support,” perhaps from Frankish *staka “support,” from Proto-Germanic *stagaz (cf. Middle Dutch stake “stick,” Old English steli “steel” stæg “rope used to support a mast”), from PIE *stak- (see stay (n.2)). If not, then from the root of stay (v.). Stays “laced underbodice” is attested from c.1600.

“strong rope which supports a ship’s mast,” from Old English stæg, from Proto-Germanic *stagan (cf. Dutch stag, Low German stach, German Stag, Old Norse stag), from PIE *stak-, ultimately an extended form of root *sta- “to stand” (see stet). The verb meaning “secure or steady with stays” is first recorded 1620s.

verb

To maintain a penile erection (1960s+)