Remain vs. Stay — What's the Difference?

By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 27, 2023

Remain often indicates a state or condition, while Stay implies a temporary halt or pause. Though both suggest continuance, Remain feels more passive and Stay more active.

Difference Between Remain and Stay

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Key Differences

Remain often conveys a sense of being left after others have gone or things have changed. It can highlight an unchanged state or condition. Stay, on the other hand, generally indicates a conscious choice to not leave a place or situation. It's more about a temporary pause or holding one's position.

Oct 27, 2023

In many contexts, Remain and Stay can be used interchangeably without significantly altering the message. For instance, "Please remain in your seats" and "Please stay in your seats" both convey the same instruction. However, the nuance in Remain tends to highlight the continuity, while Stay emphasizes the action of not moving.

Oct 27, 2023

When discussing feelings or conditions, Remain is more suitable. For instance, one might say "The mystery remains unsolved." Using Stay in such contexts would sound unnatural. Conversely, when referring to a temporary situation, Stay feels more apt, as in "I'll stay here until you return."

Oct 27, 2023

Another distinction is in the realm of commands or requests. Asking someone to "remain calm" is a plea for continued composure. In contrast, telling someone to "stay calm" implies there might be reasons coming up that could agitate them. Hence, Stay can often carry a sense of impending change.

Oct 27, 2023

Comparison Chart

Nature

More passive

More active

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Usage

Indicates a state or condition

Implies a temporary halt or pause

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In Commands

Emphasizes continuity

Suggests resistance to change

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In Feelings/States

More apt (e.g., mystery remains unsolved)

Less common

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Interchangeability

Often interchangeable

Depends on context

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Compare with Definitions

Remain

Continue to exist, especially after other similar things have ceased.

The old traditions still remain in the village.

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Stay

Not move away from or leave a place or situation.

Please stay here while I check the other room.

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Remain

Be left to be dealt with.

Several issues remain to be resolved.

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Stay

Live somewhere temporarily as a visitor or guest.

We stayed at a cozy bed-and-breakfast.

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Remain

Stay in the same place.

Please remain seated until the performance ends.

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Stay

Remain in a specified state or position.

Stay calm and don't panic.

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Remain

Continue to possess a particular quality or fulfill a particular role.

He remained a loyal friend until the end.

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Stay

Stop, delay, or prevent something.

Rain stayed the start of the game.

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Remain

Be left over after other parts have been completed or removed.

Only a few tasks remain to be done.

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Stay

To continue to be in a place or condition

Stay home.

Stay calm.

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Remain

To continue in the same state or condition

These matters remain in doubt.

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Stay

To remain or sojourn as a guest or lodger

Stayed at a motel.

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Remain

To continue to be in the same place; stay or stay behind

We are remaining at home.

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Stay

To linger or wait in order to do or experience something

We stayed to watch the final minutes of the game.

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Remain

To be left after the removal, loss, passage, or destruction of others

Only a few trees remained after the storm. ].

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Stay

To continue or persist in an action or activity

Stayed with the original plan.

Stayed in college.

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Remain

That which is left; relic; remainder.

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Stay

To keep up in a race or contest

Tried to stay with the lead runner.

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Remain

(in the plural) That which is left of a human being after the life is gone; relics; a dead body.

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Stay

(Games) To meet a bet in poker without raising it.

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Remain

Posthumous works or productions, especially literary works.

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Stay

(Archaic) To stop moving or stop doing something.

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Remain

(obsolete) State of remaining; stay.

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Stay

To remain during

Stayed the week with my parents.

Stayed the duration of the game.

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Remain

To stay after others or other parts have been removed or otherwise disappeared.

After three rounds of interviews, only 5 candidates remained.

I like to make more than enough food if I have people round for dinner, so I can eat my way through what remains in the following days.

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Stay

To stop or restrain; check

Doubt stayed his hand.

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Remain

(mathematics) To be left after a number or quantity has been subtracted or cut off; to be left as not included or comprised.

If you divide 20 apples between three people, each gets six and two remain.

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Stay

To suspend by legal order the implementation of (a planned action), especially pending further proceedings

Stay a prisoner's execution.

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Remain

To continue unchanged in place, form, or condition, or undiminished in quantity; to abide; to stay; to endure; to last.

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Stay

To satisfy or appease temporarily

Stayed his anger.

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Remain

To await; to be left to.

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Stay

(Archaic) To wait for; await

"I will not stay thy questions. Let me go.

/ Or if thou follow me, do not believe / But I shall do thee mischief in the wood" (Shakespeare).

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Remain

(copulative) To continue in a state of being.

There was no food in the house, so I had to remain hungry.

The light remained red for two full minutes.

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Stay

To brace, support, or prop up

The tower is stayed with cables.

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Remain

To stay behind while others withdraw; to be left after others have been removed or destroyed; to be left after a number or quantity has been subtracted or cut off; to be left as not included or comprised.

Gather up the fragments that remain.

Of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

That . . . remains to be proved.

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Stay

To put (a ship) on the opposite tack or to come about.

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Remain

To continue unchanged in place, form, or condition, or undiminished in quantity; to abide; to stay; to endure; to last.

Remain a widow at thy father's house.

Childless thou art; childless remain.

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Stay

A brief period of residence or visiting.

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Remain

To await; to be left to.

The easier conquest now remains thee.

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Stay

The order by which a planned action is stayed.

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Remain

State of remaining; stay.

Which often, since my here remain in England,I 've seen him do.

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Stay

The consequence of such an order.

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Remain

That which is left; relic; remainder; - chiefly in the plural.

When this remain of horror has entirely subsided.

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Stay

The act of halting; check.

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Remain

That which is left of a human being after the life is gone; relics; a dead body.

Old warriors whose adored remainsIn weeping vaults her hallowed earth contains!

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Stay

The act of coming to a halt.

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Remain

The posthumous works or productions, esp. literary works, of one who is dead; as, Cecil's

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Stay

A support or brace.

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Remain

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

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Stay

A strip of bone, plastic, or metal, used to stiffen a garment or part, such as a corset or shirt collar.

Aug 29, 2021

Remain

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

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Stay

Stays A corset.

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Remain

Be left; of persons, questions, problems, results, evidence, etc.;

There remains the question of who pulled the trigger

Carter remains the only President in recent history under whose Presidency the U.S. did not fight a war

Aug 29, 2021

Stay

(Nautical) A heavy rope or cable, usually of wire, used as a brace or support for a mast or spar.

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Remain

Stay behind;

The smell stayed in the room

The hostility remained long after they made up

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Stay

A rope used to steady, guide, or brace.

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Stay

(transitive) To prop; support; sustain; hold up; steady.

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Stay

(transitive) To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to satisfy in part or for the time.

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Stay

To stop; detain; keep back; delay; hinder.

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Stay

To restrain; withhold; check; stop.

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Stay

To cause to cease; to put an end to.

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Stay

To put off; defer; postpone; delay; keep back.

The governor stayed the execution until the appeal could be heard.

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Stay

(transitive) To hold the attention of. en

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Stay

To bear up under; to endure; to hold out against; to resist.

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Stay

To wait for; await.

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Stay

To remain for the purpose of; to stay to take part in or be present at (a meal, ceremony etc.).

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Stay

To rest; depend; rely.

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Stay

To stop; come to a stand or standstill.

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Stay

To come to an end; cease.

That day the storm stayed.

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Stay

To dwell; linger; tarry; wait.

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Stay

To make a stand; to stand firm.

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Stay

(intransitive) To hold out, as in a race or contest; last or persevere to the end; to show staying power.

That horse stays well.

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Stay

(intransitive) To remain in a particular place, especially for a definite or short period of time; sojourn; abide.

We stayed in Hawaii for a week.

I can only stay for an hour.

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Stay

To wait; rest in patience or expectation.

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Stay

To wait as an attendant; give ceremonious or submissive attendance.

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Stay

To continue to have a particular quality.

Wear gloves so your hands stay warm.

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Stay

To live; reside

Hey, where do you stay at?

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Stay

To brace or support with a stay or stays

Stay a mast

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Stay

To incline forward, aft, or to one side by means of stays.

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Stay

To tack; put on the other tack.

To stay ship

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Stay

To change; tack; go about; be in stays, as a ship.

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Stay

Continuance or a period of time spent in a place; abode for an indefinite time.

I hope you enjoyed your stay in Hawaii.

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Stay

(legal) A postponement, especially of an execution or other punishment.

The governor granted a stay of execution.

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Stay

(archaic) A stop; a halt; a break or cessation of action, motion, or progress.

Stand at a stay

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Stay

A fixed state; fixedness; stability; permanence.

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Stay

(nautical) A station or fixed anchorage for vessels.

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Stay

Restraint of passion; prudence; moderation; caution; steadiness; sobriety.

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Stay

(obsolete) Hindrance; let; check.

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Stay

A prop; a support.

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Stay

A piece of stiff material, such as plastic or whalebone, used to stiffen a piece of clothing.

Where are the stays for my collar?

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Stay

(in the plural) A corset.

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Stay

(archaic) A fastening for a garment; a hook; a clasp; anything to hang another thing on.

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Stay

(nautical) A strong rope or wire supporting a mast, and leading from one masthead down to some other, or other part of the vessel.

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Stay

A guy, rope, or wire supporting or stabilizing a platform, such as a bridge, a pole, such as a tentpole, the mast of a derrick, or other structural element.

The engineer insisted on using stays for the scaffolding.

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Stay

The transverse piece in a chain-cable link.

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Stay

Steep; ascending.

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Stay

(of a roof) Steeply pitched.

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Stay

Difficult to negotiate; not easy to access; sheer.

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Stay

Stiff; upright; unbending; reserved; haughty; proud.

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Stay

Steeply.

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Stay

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.

Aug 29, 2021

Stay

That which serves as a prop; a support.

Trees serve as so many stays for their vines.

Lord Liverpool is the single stay of this ministry.

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Stay

A corset stiffened with whalebone or other material, worn by women, and rarely by men.

How the strait stays the slender waist constrain.

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Stay

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.

Embrace the hero and his stay implore.

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Stay

Cessation of motion or progression; stand; stop.

Made of sphere metal, never to decayUntil his revolution was at stay.

Affairs of state seemed rather to stand at a stay.

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Stay

Hindrance; let; check.

They were able to read good authors without any stay, if the book were not false.

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Stay

Restraint of passion; moderation; caution; steadiness; sobriety.

The wisdom, stay, and moderation of the king.

With prudent stay he long deferredThe rough contention.

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Stay

Strictly, a part in tension to hold the parts together, or stiffen them.

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Stay

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.

Sallows and reeds . . . for vineyards useful foundTo stay thy vines.

Aug 29, 2021

Stay

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.

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Stay

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.

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Stay

To hold from proceeding; to withhold; to restrain; to stop; to hold.

Him backward overthrew and down him stayedWith their rude hands and grisly grapplement.

All that may stay their minds from thinking that true which they heartily wish were false.

Aug 29, 2021

Stay

To hinder; to delay; to detain; to keep back.

Your ships are stayed at Venice.

This business staid me in London almost a week.

I was willing to stay my reader on an argument that appeared to me new.

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Stay

To remain for the purpose of; to wait for.

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Stay

To cause to cease; to put an end to.

Stay your strife.

For flattering planets seemed to sayThis child should ills of ages stay.

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Stay

To fasten or secure with stays; as, to stay a flat sheet in a steam boiler.

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Stay

To tack, as a vessel, so that the other side of the vessel shall be presented to the wind.

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Stay

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.

Stay, I command you; stay and hear me first.

I stay a little longer, as one staysTo cover up the embers that still burn.

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Stay

To continue in a state.

The flames augment, and stayAt their full height, then languish to decay.

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Stay

To wait; to attend; to forbear to act.

I 'll tell thee all my whole deviceWhen I am in my coach, which stays for us.

The father can not stay any longer for the fortune.

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Stay

To dwell; to tarry; to linger.

I must stay a little on one action.

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Stay

To rest; to depend; to rely; to stand; to insist.

I stay here on my bond.

Ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon.

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Stay

To come to an end; to cease; as, that day the storm stayed.

Here my commission stays.

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Stay

To hold out in a race or other contest; as, a horse stays well.

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Stay

To change tack, as a ship.

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Stay

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

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Stay

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

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Stay

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

Aug 29, 2021

Stay

(nautical) brace consisting of a heavy rope or wire cable used as a support for a mast or spar

Aug 29, 2021

Stay

A thin strip of metal or bone that is used to stiffen a garment (e.g. a corset)

Aug 29, 2021

Stay

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

Aug 29, 2021

Stay

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!

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Stay

Dwell;

You can stay with me while you are in town

Stay a bit longer--the day is still young

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Stay

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

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Stay

Remain behind;

I had to stay at home and watch the children

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Stay

Stop or halt;

Please stay the bloodshed!

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Stay

Stay behind;

The smell stayed in the room

The hostility remained long after they made up

Aug 29, 2021

Stay

A trial of endurance;

Ride out the storm

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Stay

Stop a judicial process;

The judge stayed the execution order

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Stay

Fasten with stays

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Stay

Overcome or allay;

Quell my hunger

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Stay

Support or secure something in a specified position.

The ropes stay the mast.

Oct 27, 2023

Common Curiosities

Is "Stay" used in commands?

Yes, as in "Stay here!" or "Stay calm."

Oct 27, 2023

Can "Remain" be used when referring to feelings?

Yes, like "Doubts remain in my mind."

Oct 27, 2023

Can "Remain" and "Stay" be used interchangeably?

Often, but it depends on the context.

Oct 27, 2023

Is "Remain" often used in legal or official contexts?

Yes, like "The defendant shall remain in custody."

Oct 27, 2023

Is "Stay" more apt for temporary situations?

Yes, it typically suggests a temporary halt or pause.

Oct 27, 2023

Would you say "The problem remains unsolved" or "The problem stays unsolved"?

"The problem remains unsolved" is more common.

Oct 27, 2023

Is "Remain" used to indicate leftovers?

Yes, like "Only a few cookies remain."

Oct 27, 2023

Does "Remain" imply a more passive state than "Stay"?

Yes, "Remain" is more about continuity, while "Stay" implies active halting.

Oct 27, 2023

Is "Stay" more about physical presence?

Often, especially when referring to not leaving a place.

Oct 27, 2023

Which is more formal, "Remain" or "Stay"?

Both can be formal, but "Remain" often sounds more so.

Oct 27, 2023

Can "Stay" indicate a delay?

Yes, as in "The rain stayed our plans."

Oct 27, 2023

Does "Remain" emphasize continuity?

Yes, it often indicates a continued state or condition.

Oct 27, 2023

Can "Stay" imply a longer duration than "Remain"?

Not necessarily; context determines duration for both.

Oct 27, 2023

Can "Stay" suggest an impending change?

Yes, as in "Stay alert" implying a need for alertness soon.

Oct 27, 2023

Between "Remain" and "Stay", which one emphasizes resistance to change?

"Stay" often carries that nuance, especially in commands.

Oct 27, 2023

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Written by

Tayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.