Library / English Dictionary

STAGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A section or portion of a journey or course

Example:

then we embarked on the second stage of our Caribbean cruise

Synonyms:

leg; stage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("stage" is a kind of...):

travel; traveling; travelling (the act of going from one place to another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stage"):

fare-stage (a section along the route of a bus for which the fare is the same)

Holonyms ("stage" is a part of...):

journey; journeying (the act of traveling from one place to another)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A large platform on which people can stand and can be seen by an audience

Example:

he clambered up onto the stage and got the actors to help him into the box

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("stage" is a kind of...):

platform (a raised horizontal surface)

Meronyms (parts of "stage"):

left stage; stage left (the part of the stage on the actor's left as the actor faces the audience)

right stage; stage right (the part of the stage on the actor's right as the actor faces the audience)

upstage (the rear part of the stage)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stage"):

downstage (the front half of the stage (as seen from the audience))

mise en scene; setting; stage setting (arrangement of scenery and properties to represent the place where a play or movie is enacted)

apron; forestage; proscenium (the part of a modern theater stage between the curtain and the orchestra (i.e., in front of the curtain))

theater stage; theatre stage (a stage in a theater on which actors can perform)

backstage; offstage; wing (a stage area out of sight of the audience)

Holonyms ("stage" is a part of...):

house; theater; theatre (a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented)

Derivation:

stage (perform (a play), especially on a stage)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A small platform on a microscope where the specimen is mounted for examination

Synonyms:

microscope stage; stage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("stage" is a kind of...):

platform (a raised horizontal surface)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A large coach-and-four formerly used to carry passengers and mail on regular routes between towns

Example:

we went out of town together by stage about ten or twelve miles

Synonyms:

stage; stagecoach

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("stage" is a kind of...):

coach; coach-and-four; four-in-hand (a carriage pulled by four horses with one driver)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The theater as a profession (usually 'the stage')

Example:

an early movie simply showed a long kiss by two actors of the contemporary stage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("stage" is a kind of...):

dramatic art; dramatics; dramaturgy; theater; theatre (the art of writing and producing plays)

Derivation:

stage (perform (a play), especially on a stage)

stagey; stagy (having characteristics of the stage especially an artificial and mannered quality)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Any scene regarded as a setting for exhibiting or doing something

Example:

it set the stage for peaceful negotiations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("stage" is a kind of...):

scene (the place where some action occurs)

Derivation:

stage (plan, organize, and carry out (an event))

Sense 7

Meaning:

A specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process

Example:

at what stage are the social sciences?

Synonyms:

degree; level; point; stage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("stage" is a kind of...):

state (the way something is with respect to its main attributes)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stage"):

climax (the most severe stage of a disease)

quickening (the stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus)

ultimacy; ultimateness (the state or degree of being ultimate; the final or most extreme in degree or size or time or distance)

state of the art (the highest degree of development of an art or technique at a particular time)

plane (a level of existence or development)

living standards; standard of life; standard of living (a level of material comfort in terms of goods and services available to someone or some group)

end point; resultant (the final point in a process)

extent (the point or degree to which something extends)

acme; elevation; height; meridian; peak; pinnacle; summit; superlative; tiptop; top (the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development)

ladder (ascending stages by which somebody or something can progress)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Any distinct time period in a sequence of events

Example:

we are in a transitional stage in which many former ideas must be revised or rejected

Synonyms:

phase; stage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("stage" is a kind of...):

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stage"):

safe period (that time during a woman's menstrual cycle during which conception is least likely to occur (usually immediately before of after menstruation))

seedtime (any time of new development)

apogee; culmination (a final climactic stage)

generation (a stage of technological development or innovation)

luteal phase; secretory phase (the second half of the menstrual cycle after ovulation; the corpus luteum secretes progesterone which prepares the endometrium for the implantation of an embryo; if fertilization does not occur then menstrual flow begins)

musth (an annual phase of heightened sexual excitement in the males of certain large mammals (especially elephants); is associated with discharge from a gland between the eye and ear)

menstrual phase (the phase of the menstrual cycle during which the lining of the uterus is shed (the first day of menstrual flow is considered day 1 of the menstrual cycle))

fertile period; fertile phase (the time in the menstrual cycle when fertilization is most likely to be possible (7 days before to 7 days after ovulation))

incubation ((pathology) the phase in the development of an infection between the time a pathogen enters the body and the time the first symptoms appear)

chapter (any distinct period in history or in a person's life)

phallic phase; phallic stage ((psychoanalysis) the third stage in a child's development when awareness of and manipulation of the genitals is supposed to be a primary source of pleasure)

oral phase; oral stage ((psychoanalysis) the first sexual and social stage of an infant's development; the mouth is the focus of the libido and satisfaction comes from suckling and chewing and biting)

latency period; latency phase; latency stage ((psychoanalysis) the fourth period (from about age 5 or 6 until puberty) during which sexual interests are supposed to be sublimated into other activities)

genital phase; genital stage ((psychoanalysis) the fifth sexual and social stage in a person's development occurring during adolescence; interest focuses on sexual activity)

anal phase; anal stage ((psychoanalysis) the second sexual and social stage of a child's development during which bowel control is learned)

zygotene (the second stage of the prophase of meiosis)

phase of cell division (a stage in meiosis or mitosis)

pachytene (the third stage of the prophase of meiosis)

leptotene (the first stage of the prophase of meiosis)

diplotene (the fourth stage of the prophase of meiosis)

diakinesis (the final stage of the prophase of meiosis)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Plan, organize, and carry out (an event)

Example:

the neighboring tribe staged an invasion

Synonyms:

arrange; stage

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "stage" is one way to...):

initiate; pioneer (take the lead or initiative in; participate in the development of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stage"):

dogfight (arrange for an illegal dogfight)

tee up (make detailed arrangements or preparations)

phase (arrange in phases or stages)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

stage (any scene regarded as a setting for exhibiting or doing something)

stager (someone who supervises the physical aspects in the production of a show and who is in charge of the stage when the show is being performed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Perform (a play), especially on a stage

Example:

we are going to stage 'Othello'

Synonyms:

present; represent; stage

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "stage" is one way to...):

re-create (create anew)

Domain category:

performing arts (arts or skills that require public performance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stage"):

localise; localize; place; set (locate)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Did he stage his major works over a short period of time?

Derivation:

stage (a large platform on which people can stand and can be seen by an audience)

stage (the theater as a profession (usually 'the stage'))

stager (someone who supervises the physical aspects in the production of a show and who is in charge of the stage when the show is being performed)

staging (the production of a drama on the stage)

Credits

 Context examples: 

One in every 50 people over the age of 40 has early signs of glaucoma, although the vast majority go undetected at this stage.

(Air Pollution Can Trigger Glaucoma, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A human life stage that begins at six years of age and continues until eleven complete years of age.

(Middle Childhood, NICHD)

If you are insulin resistant, too much sugar builds up in your blood, setting the stage for disease.

(Metabolic Syndrome, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

MR is used to help find the stage of melanoma (a type of skin cancer) and other types of cancer.

(MR, NCI Dictionary)

By inhibiting several different signaling molecules that play crucial roles at various stages in tumorigenesis, this agent may inhibit tumor growth, invasion, migration and metastasis.

(Multitargeted Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor JNJ-26483327, NCI Thesaurus)

When dusk comes we should find ourselves one stage advanced in our investigation.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The solemn butler knew and welcomed him; he was subjected to no stage of delay, but ushered direct from the door to the dining-room where Dr. Lanyon sat alone over his wine.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

(Mental Health, NIH)

In its early stages, you may have flu-like symptoms and a stiff neck.

(Meningococcal Infections, NIH)

Also called Jewett staging system and Whitmore-Jewett staging system.

(ABCD rating, NCI Dictionary)