stage

Noun (1)

stage (plural stages)

1. A phase.
   • He is in the recovery stage of his illness.
   • Completion of an identifiable stage of maintenance such as removing an aircraft engine for repair or storage.

   Synonyms:

   tier, level, lap

2. (broadly) One of the portions of a device (such as a rocket or thermonuclear weapon) which are used or activated in a particular order, one after another.
   • The first stage of the launcher burned out and separated after successfully boosting the payload onto a suborbital trajectory, but the engine of the upper stage failed to ignite to place the satellite into orbit.
3. A platform; a surface, generally elevated, upon which show performances or other public events are given.
   • The band returned to the stage to play an encore.
   • Knights, squires, and steeds must enter on the stage.1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC
4. A floor or storey of a house.
5. A floor elevated for the convenience of mechanical work, etc.; scaffolding; staging.
6. A platform, often floating, serving as a kind of wharf.
7. A stagecoach, an enclosed horsedrawn carriage used to carry passengers; the service that such coaches provide; a company that operates such service.
   • The stage pulled into town carrying the payroll for the mill and three ladies.
   • In the 1880s he ran a stage that connected various interior towns with the coastal port.
8. (dated) A place of rest on a regularly travelled road; a station, way station; a place appointed for a relay of horses.
9. (dated) A degree of advancement in a journey; one of several portions into which a road or course is marked off; the distance between two places of rest on a road.
   • a stage of ten miles
   • A stage […] signifies a certain distance on a road.1807, Francis Jeffrey, “Clarkson on Quakerism”, in The Edinburgh Review April 1807
10. The number of an electronic circuit’s block, such as a filter, an amplifier, etc.
    • a 3-stage cascade of a 2nd-order bandpass Butterworth filter
11. The place on a microscope where the slide is located for viewing.
    • He placed the slide on the stage.
12. A level; one of the areas making up the game.
    • How do you get past the flying creatures in the third stage?
    • Additionally, popular supporting characters make cameos on certain stages, such as in Smashville, where you'll find Tom Nook and other familiar faces from Animal Crossing.2007 December, Chris Slate, “Get Ready to Smash”, in Nintendo Power, volume 222, page 49

    Synonyms:

    level

Verb (1)

stage (third-person singular simple present stages, present participle staging, simple past and past participle staged)

1. (transitive) To produce on a stage, to perform a play.
   • The local theater group will stage "Pride and Prejudice".
2. (transitive) To arrange in a manner intended to deceive.
   • The salesman's demonstration of the new cleanser was staged to make it appear highly effective.

   Synonyms:

   fake

3. (transitive) To furnish and decorate (a property) to make it more appealing to potential buyers.
   • to stage a house or flat
4. (transitive) To orchestrate; to carry out.
   • The workers staged a strike.
   • A protest will be staged in the public square on Monday.
5. (transitive) To place in position to prepare for use.
   • We staged the cars to be ready for the start, then waited for the starter to drop the flag.
   • to stage data to be written at a later time
6. (transitive) To determine what stage (a disease, etc.) has progressed to
   • One method of documenting a wound is as follows: (1) stage the ulcer, time present, setting where occurred; (2) describe the location anatomically; (3) measure ulcer in centimeters (length × width × base); […]2010, Howard M. Fillit, Kenneth Rockwood, Kenneth Woodhouse, Brocklehurst's Textbook of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, page 940
7. To jettison a spent stage of a multistage rocket or other launch vehicle and light the engine(s) of the stage above it.
   • In Kerbal Space Program, you stage away used-up parts of your rocket by hitting the spacebar.
8. (Canada, US, intransitive) To work an internship, usually as a chef or waiter.

Noun (2)

IPA/stɑːʒ/

stage (plural stages)

1. An unpaid internship in a restaurant where a cook or chef is exposed to new culinary techniques.
   • It doesn’t matter that recent reporting on the stage economy of Copenhagen […] has revealed a pattern of abuse and dangerous working conditions for unpaid interns. In “The Bear,” the stage is a dream: Marcus’s tasks are simply to learn from a skilled but kind and patient mentor, to get out and...2023 June 23, Tejal Rao, “‘The Bear’ Finds Optimism in the Dysfunctional World of Hospitality”, in The New York Times

Verb (2)

IPA/stɑːʒ/

stage (third-person singular simple present stages, present participle staging, simple past and past participle staged)

1. (intransitive) To work as an unpaid intern in a restaurant.
   • I’ve been chosen to stage at Coloniál, the Michelin-starred restaurant that I will one day lie about running. Stage is restaurant-speak for free labor, but I’m unconcerned.2023, C Pam Zhang, Land of Milk and Honey, Hutchinson Heinemann, page 36

Proper noun capitalized: Stage

Stage (plural Stages)

1. A surname.