stage
Pronunciation: (stāj), [key] — n., v., staged, stag•ing.
—n. - a single step or degree in a process; a particular phase, period, position, etc., in a process, development, or series.
- a raised platform or floor, as for speakers, performers, etc.
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- the platform on which the actors perform in a theater.
- this platform with all the parts of the theater and all the apparatus back of the proscenium.
- the theater, esp. acting, as a profession: He plans to make the stage his career.
- See
- the scene of any action.
- a stagecoach.
- a place of rest on a journey; a regular stopping place of a stagecoach or the like, for the change of horses, mules, etc.
- the distance between two places of rest on a journey; each of the portions of a journey.
- a portion or period of a course of action, of life, etc.: the adolescent stage of human development.
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- any one of the major time periods in the development of an insect, as the embryonic, larval, pupal, and imaginal stages.
- Also calledstadium.any one of the periods of larval growth between molts.
- a major phase of the economic or sociological life of human beings or society: the patriarchal stage.
- a division of stratified rocks corresponding to a single geologic age.
- the small platform of a microscope on which the object to be examined is placed. See illus. under
- an element in a complex mechanism, as a tube and its accessory structures in a multiple amplifier.
- a section of a rocket containing a rocket engine or cluster of rocket engines, usually separable from other such sections when its propellant is exhausted.
- working, traveling, etc., slowly, with frequent pauses; unhurriedly, with many stops; gradually.
- to become an actor, esp. in the theater: She knew from the age of 12 that she would go on the stage.
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- to continue to be produced, as a play or other theatrical production.
- to be the center of attention.
- performing, esp. as an actor.
—v.t. - to represent, produce, or exhibit on or as if on a stage: The drama class staged a play during Christmas vacation.
- to furnish with a stage, staging, stage set, etc.
- to write, direct, or produce (a play) with the action taking place as if in a specified locale or time: He staged the fantasy on Mars in the year 2500.
- to plan, organize, or carry out (an activity), esp. for dramatic or public effect: Workers staged a one-day strike.
- to classify the natural progression of (a disease, esp. cancer).
—v.i. - to be suitable for presentation or performance on the stage: The script didn't stage well.
- to travel by stagecoach.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.