1. [n]  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"
2. [n]  (nautical) brace consisting of a heavy rope or wire cable used as a support for a mast or spar
3. [n]  a thin strip of metal or bone that is used to stiffen a garment (e.g. a corset)
4. [n]  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"
5. [n]  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"
6. [v]  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"
7. [v]  stop or halt; "Please stay the bloodshed!"
8. [v]  overcome or allay; "quell my hunger"
9. [v]  fasten with stays
10. [v]  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!"
11. [v]  remain behind; "I had to stay at home and watch the children"
12. [v]  stop a judicial process; "The judge stayed the execution order"
13. [v]  a trial of endurance; "ride out the storm"
14. [v]  dwell (archaic); "You can stay with me while you are in town"; "stay a bit longer--the day is still young"
15. [v]  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"
16. [v]  stay behind; "The smell stayed in the room"; "The hostility remained long after they made up"

Stay
Since the horrific loss of a loved one, former cop turned freelance investigator Aud Torvingen has moved to a cabin in the woods of North Carolina, where she tries to put her past behind her. The unexpected arrival of a friend, however, draws her back into the adrenaline-fueled world she left, where her investigation of a missing woman in the heart of New York City leads her to an underground pedophile network.

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1. \Stay\, n. [AS. st[ae]g, akin to D., G., Icel., Sw., & Dan.
   stag; cf. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai, of Teutonic origin.] (Naut.)
   A large, strong rope, employed to support a mast, by being
   extended from the head of one mast down to some other, or to
   some part of the vessel. Those which lead forward are called
   fore-and-aft stays; those which lead to the vessel's side are
   called backstays. See Illust. of {Ship}.
   {In stays}, or {Hove in stays} (Naut.), in the act or
      situation of staying, or going about from one tack to
      another. --R. H. Dana, Jr.
   {Stay holes} (Naut.), openings in the edge of a staysail
      through which the hanks pass which join it to the stay.
   {Stay tackle} (Naut.), a tackle attached to a stay and used
      for hoisting or lowering heavy articles over the side.
   {To miss stays} (Naut.), to fail in the attempt to go about.
      --Totten.
   {Triatic stay} (Naut.), a rope secured at the ends to the
      heads of the foremast and mainmast with thimbles spliced
      to its bight into which the stay tackles hook.
   

2. \Stay\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Stayed}or {Staid}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Staying}.] [OF. estayer, F. ['e]tayer to prop, fr.
   OF. estai, F. ['e]tai, a prop, probably fr. OD. stade,
   staeye, a prop, akin to E. stead; or cf. stay a rope to
   support a mast. Cf. {Staid}, a., {Stay}, v. i.]
   1. To stop from motion or falling; to prop; to fix firmly; to
      hold up; to support.
            Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the
            one side, and the other on the other side. --Ex.
                                                  xvii. 12.
            Sallows and reeds . . . for vineyards useful found
            To stay thy vines.                    --Dryden.
   2. To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to
      satisfy in part or for the time.
            He has devoured a whole loaf of bread and butter,
            and it has not staid his stomach for a minute. --Sir
                                                  W. Scott.
   3. To bear up under; to endure; to support; to resist
      successfully.
            She will not stay the siege of loving terms, Nor
            bide the encounter of assailing eyes. --Shak.
   4. To hold from proceeding; to withhold; to restrain; to
      stop; to hold.
            Him backward overthrew and down him stayed With
            their rude hands grisly grapplement.  --Spenser.
            All that may stay their minds from thinking that
            true which they heartly wish were false. --Hooker.
   5. To hinde?; to delay; to detain; to keep back.
            Your ships are stayed at Venice.      --Shak.
            This business staid me in London almost a week.
                                                  --Evelyn.
            I was willing to stay my reader on an argument that
            appeared to me new.                   --Locke.
   6. To remain for the purpose of; to wait for. ``I stay dinner
      there.'' --Shak.
   7. To cause to cease; to put an end to.
            Stay your strife.                     --Shak.
            For flattering planets seemed to say This child
            should ills of ages stay.             --Emerson.
   8. (Engin.) To fasten or secure with stays; as, to stay a
      flat sheet in a steam boiler.
   9. (Naut.) To tack, as a vessel, so that the other side of
      the vessel shall be presented to the wind.
   {To stay a mast} (Naut.), to incline it forward or aft, or to
      one side, by the stays and backstays.
   

3. \Stay\, v. i. [[root]163. See {Stay} to hold up, prop.]
   1. To remain; to continue in a place; to abide fixed for a
      space of time; to stop; to stand still.
            She would command the hasty sun to stay. --Spenser.
            Stay, I command you; stay and hear me first.
                                                  --Dryden.
            I stay a little longer, as one stays To cover up the
            embers that still burn.               --Longfellow.
   2. To continue in a state.
            The flames augment, and stay At their full height,
            then languish to decay.               --Dryden.
   3. To wait; to attend; to forbear to act.
            I'll tell thee all my whole device When I am in my
            coach, which stays for us.            --Shak.
            The father can not stay any longer for the fortune.
                                                  --Locke.
   4. To dwell; to tarry; to linger.
            I must stay a little on one action.   --Dryden.
   5. To rest; to depend; to rely; to stand; to insist.
            I stay here on my bond.               --Shak.
            Ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and
            perverseness, and stay thereon.       --Isa. xxx.
                                                  12.
   6. To come to an end; to cease; as, that day the storm
      stayed. [Archaic]
            Here my commission stays.             --Shak.
   7. To hold out in a race or other contest; as, a horse stays
      well. [Colloq.]
   8. (Naut.) To change tack; as a ship.
   

4. \Stay\, n. [Cf. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai support, and E. stay
   a rope to support a mast.]
   1. That which serves as a prop; a support. ``My only strength
      and stay.'' --Milton.
            Trees serve as so many stays for their vines.
                                                  --Addison.
            Lord Liverpool is the single stay of this ministry.
                                                  --Coleridge.
   2. pl. A corset stiffened with whalebone or other material,
      worn by women, and rarely by men.
            How the strait stays the slender waist constrain.
                                                  --Gay.
   3. Continuance in a place; abode for a space of time;
      sojourn; as, you make a short stay in this city.
            Make haste, and leave thy business and thy care; No
            mortal interest can be worth thy stay. --Dryden.
            Embrace the hero and his stay implore. --Waller.
   4. Cessation of motion or progression; stand; stop.
            Made of sphere metal, never to decay Until his
            revolution was at stay.               --Milton.
            Affairs of state seemed rather to stand at a stay.
                                                  --Hayward.
   5. Hindrance; let; check. [Obs.]
            They were able to read good authors without any
            stay, if the book were not false.     --Robynson
                                                  (more's
                                                  Utopia).
   6. Restraint of passion; moderation; caution; steadiness;
      sobriety. [Obs.] ``Not grudging that thy lust hath bounds
      and stays.'' --Herbert.
            The wisdom, stay, and moderation of the king.
                                                  --Bacon.
            With prudent stay he long deferred The rough
            contention.                           --Philips.
   7. (Engin.) Strictly, a part in tension to hold the parts
      together, or stiffen them.
   {Stay bolt} (Mech.), a bolt or short rod, connecting opposite
      plates, so as to prevent them from being bulged out when
      acted upon by a pressure which tends to force them apart,
      as in the leg of a steam boiler.
   {Stay busk}, a stiff piece of wood, steel, or whalebone, for
      the front support of a woman's stays. Cf. {Busk}.
   {Stay rod}, a rod which acts as a stay, particularly in a
      steam boiler.