stage

STAYJ/steɪd͡ʒ/

Pluralstages

Verbstages, staging, staged

25 meanings of stage

Practice

1
phasenouncountable
A distinct period or step within a larger process of development or change.
The disease was caught at an early stage, before symptoms appeared.
Each stage of the negotiation brought the two sides closer together.
UsageThings happen at or in a stage (at an early stage); in stages means bit by bit.
Similarphase, step, point, period, juncture
Note
The word comes from standing: Middle English stage, from Old French estage, 'position, condition', itself from ester, 'to be standing'. A stage is a position a process reaches and passes through on its way.
2
theater platformnouncountable
A raised platform on which plays, concerts, or other public performances are presented to an audience.
The actors took their places on the stage as the lights dimmed.
A grand piano sat at the center of the stage.
UsagePerformers are on stage or on the stage, walk onto it, and take the stage to begin.
Similarplatform, dais
Note
Theater's core word, and the platform the figurative uses look back to. The word has long carried more than carpentry. Charles Sprague in 1829 mourns 'the poor, degraded stage', and Oscar Wilde's Intentions (1891) calls it 'the meeting place of all the arts'. For the career itself, see acting as a profession.
3
theater worldnounmetonymicallyuncountablewith the
The profession or art of acting, especially in the theater.
After college she devoted her life to the stage.
Many film actors began their careers on the stage.
UsageGo on the stage means become an actor; leave the stage means stop acting.
Similartheater, drama
Note
A metonym in which the platform stands for the whole career: to go on the stage is to take up acting. Gilbert and Sullivan, in 1882, list it beside the Army, the Navy and the Church as one of the established professions, capitalized there to match its company.
4
hold (event)verbtransitive
To organize and carry out an event, often a public or coordinated one.
Organizers plan to stage a festival in the city park.
The union staged a walkout to demand better pay.
UsageCommon with public action: stage a protest, stage a strike, stage a walkout; also stage a comeback.
Similarorganize, hold, mount, launch, host
Note
Unlike the deceptive sense, nothing here is faked. The event is real; it is simply organized.
5
put on (play)verbtransitive
To produce and present a play or other performance for an audience.
The company plans to stage Hamlet next season.
A local troupe staged the comedy to great acclaim.
Similarproduce, mount, present, perform
6
public arenanouncountable
A setting where something is shown to the public or where a notable event takes place.
The courtroom became the stage for a dramatic confrontation.
The conference offered a stage for new ideas to reach a wide public.
UsageOften on the world stage or on the international stage; set the stage for means prepare the way.
Similararena, scene, setting, forum, venue
Note
The theater metaphor turned outward, and poets got there early. In King Lear the world is 'this great stage of fools', and Milton has 'the stage of Ayr and Earth' ringing with music.
7
journey legnouncountable
A portion of a journey; one of the sections a road or route is divided into, or the distance between two resting places.
The travelers covered three stages before stopping for the night.
He travelled by gig, with his wife, his favourite horse performing the journey by easy stages.
1858, Samuel Smiles, Robert Stephenson
Similarleg, section, stretch, lap
Note
Old travel measured distance by the road's own divisions, so a journey could be 'a stage of ten miles'. Francis Jeffrey in The Edinburgh Review of 1807 spells it out: a stage 'signifies a certain distance on the road'. The phrase to know is by easy stages, which Samuel Smiles uses in his Life of George Stephenson for a favorite horse making a journey without strain.
8
rocket sectionnouncountable
One of the sections of a device such as a rocket or warhead, each used or activated in sequence, one after another.
The rocket's second stage ignited moments after separation.
Each stage carries its own fuel and engines.
Note
Engineering took the idea of steps in sequence and built it into hardware. In stacked rockets, stages are numbered from the bottom up. Usually the first stage burns out and separates, and then the upper stage ignites to finish the job, though some rockets light it just before separation. A rocket built this way is multistage, and the verb for that handover grew from this noun.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
The hardware sense extends the idea of successive phases or steps. en.wiktionary.org
This describes serial, stacked stages. Parallel stages are attached alongside other stages. en.wikipedia.org
This is a common sequence, but hot staging ignites the upper stage before separation and before the booster engines have completely shut down. nas.nasa.gov
A rocket with multiple detachable stages is multistage. en.wiktionary.org
9
game levelnouncountable
A distinct level or section of a video game, one of the areas a player works through.
The final stage of the game takes place inside a volcano.
Players unlock a new stage after collecting enough coins.
UsagePlayers clear or beat a stage and are in or on it; stage and level mean almost the same.
Similarlevel
10
fakeverbtransitive
To set up an event to look real or spontaneous when it is actually planned to deceive.
The thieves stage a robbery to draw attention from their real target.
The whole argument was staged for the cameras.
UsageOften passive or before a noun: the fight was staged, a staged accident, meaning arranged to deceive.
Similarfake, engineer, contrive, rig
11
verbtransitive
To fit out a home that is on the market with furniture and decor, making it more attractive to prospective buyers.
Our realtor advised us to stage the kitchen and living room before the first open house.
The condo had been professionally staged, so every room looked like a page from a catalog.

Less common meanings

12
set up aheadverbtransitive
To position something in advance so that it is ready for use when needed.
Crews stage supplies along the route before the race.
The team staged the tools in the order they would be needed.
UsageYou stage the things put in place, not the place; a staging area is where they wait.
Similarposition, station, place
Note
Two very different trades share this verb. In racing, cars are staged at the start before the starter drops the flag. In computing, data is staged, held ready to be written at a later time. Both carry the old idea of standing in position.
13
assess diseaseverbtransitive
To determine how far a disease or similar condition has progressed by assigning it to a stage.
Oncologists stage the disease using scans and biopsies.
Nurses stage each pressure ulcer on admission and record its size and location.
UsageMost often passive: tumors and patients are staged, and the process is staging.
Note
A clinician's verb built on the 'phase' meaning: one stages an ulcer or a cancer by fixing how far it has advanced. In Brocklehurst's Textbook, staging the ulcer is the first step in documenting a wound, before its location and measurements are recorded. It has nothing to do with the theater verb.
14
horse coachnouncountable
A horse-drawn coach used to carry passengers along a fixed route; also the travel service or the company providing it.
Passengers boarded the morning stage bound for the capital.
The stage changed horses at every inn along the route.
Similarstagecoach, coach
Note
Coach travel had its own shorthand, and this is it: the stage could be the vehicle, the line it ran, or the firm behind it. Jonathan Swift writes to Stella in 1711 that he 'went to town in the sixpenny stage', naming it by its fare. William Cowper in 1782 mentions a parcel 'sent you by the stage', where the word means the service, much as one says by post.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
Stage could mean the coach, its service, or the company operating it. en.wiktionary.org
Swift's passage occurs in his correspondence to Stella in 1711. en.wikisource.org
The April 27 entry reads 'I went to town in the sixpenny stage to day'; the quotation omits 'to town' without indicating the omission. gutenberg.org
Sixpenny refers to the coach fare. en.wikisource.org
Cowper's quotation appeared in a work first published in 1782. gutenberg.org
Cowper wrote 'sent you by the stage' about a parcel transported by stagecoach. eighteenthcenturypoetry.org
15
microscopenouncountable
The flat platform on a microscope where a slide is placed and held for viewing.
He clipped the slide to the stage and adjusted the focus knob.
A mechanical stage lets you move the specimen smoothly in two directions.
16
separate (rocket)verbintransitive
To release a spent section of a multistage rocket and ignite the engines of the section above it.
The launch vehicle is designed to stage at high altitude.
Minutes after liftoff, the rocket staged, shedding its spent booster and firing the second-stage engine.
Similarseparate
17
scaffoldingnouncountable
A raised floor or platform built to support workers during mechanical or construction work; a piece of scaffolding.
The crew lowered the suspended stage another floor and kept sealing the windows.
Each morning the riggers checked the cables on the swing stage before anyone climbed aboard.
Similarscaffold, platform
18
floating docknouncountable
A platform where boats can load or unload, often built to float.
A small stage projected into the harbor where the ferry could load passengers.
Because the stage floats, its ramp stays level with the ferry's deck whether the tide is high or low.
Similarjetty, landing, pontoon, pier, dock
19
noundatedcountable
A resting place on a well-traveled road; a station or way station where fresh horses were kept for relay.
The mail coach pulled into the next stage, where a fresh team of horses stood waiting in the yard.
Each stage along the post road kept a stable of fresh horses ready.
Similarstation, post
Note
The word is dated in this use, and a modern writer would say station or way station; stage belongs to period settings and older travel writing. Keep it apart from the stretch of road between two such stops. A coach arrives at a stage in this sense, but covers a stage in that one.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The stopping-place sense refers to a station where travelers rested and horses were changed. en.wikipedia.org
A separate sense denotes the stretch of road between stopping places. en.wiktionary.org
20
noun
A discrete block or section of an electronic circuit, such as a filter or an amplifier.
21
noun
A rock-layer sequence representing the deposits of one age on the geologic time scale.
22
noun
A placement or spell of work as an intern, often unpaid, especially a cook's time in another restaurant's kitchen learning its techniques.
23
verb
To work as an intern, often unpaid, especially in a restaurant kitchen to gain experience.
24
noun
The imagined space in which stereo sounds are placed, setting where each one seems to come from during playback.
25
nounarchaic
One of the separate levels inside a house.

Practice

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Origin

The Old French verb ester ('to be standing, be located') gave the noun estage ('dwelling, residence; position, situation, condition'), which Middle English took over as stage. Old English stede ('place, station') is a relative, and étage is a doublet.