stag

n. [ Icel. steggr the male of several animals; or a doubtful AS. stagga. Cf. Steg. ] 1. (Zool.) (a) The adult male of the red deer (Cervus elaphus), a large European species closely related to the American elk, or wapiti. (b) The male of certain other species of large deer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A colt, or filly; also, a romping girl. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A castrated bull; -- called also bull stag, and bull seg. See the Note under Ox. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Stock Exchange) (a) An outside irregular dealer in stocks, who is not a member of the exchange. [ Cant ] (b) One who applies for the allotment of shares in new projects, with a view to sell immediately at a premium, and not to hold the stock. [ Cant ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Zool.) The European wren. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Stag beetle (Zool.), any one of numerous species of lamellicorn beetles belonging to Lucanus and allied genera, especially Lucanus cervus of Europe and Lucanus dama of the United States. The mandibles are large and branched, or forked, whence the name. The larva feeds on the rotten wood of dead trees. Called also horned bug, and horse beetle. --
Stag dance, a dance by men only. [ Slang, U.S. ] --
Stag hog (Zool.), the babiroussa. --
Stag-horn coral (Zool.), any one of several species of large branching corals of the genus Madrepora, which somewhat resemble the antlers of the stag, especially Madrepora cervicornis, and Madrepora palmata, of Florida and the West Indies. --
Stag-horn fern (Bot.), an Australian and West African fern (Platycerium alcicorne) having the large fronds branched like a stag's horns; also, any species of the same genus. --
Stag-horn sumac (Bot.), a common American shrub (Rhus typhina) having densely velvety branchlets. See Sumac. --
Stag party, a party consisting of men only. [ Slang, U. S. ] --
Stag tick (Zool.), a parasitic dipterous insect of the family Hippoboscidae, which lives upon the stag and is usually wingless. The same species lives also upon the European grouse, but in that case has wings. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. (Com.) To act as a “stag, ” or irregular dealer in stocks. [ Cant ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. estage, F. étage, (assumed) LL. staticum, from L. stare to stand. See Stand, and cf. Static. ] 1. A floor or story of a house. [ Obs. ] Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An elevated platform on which an orator may speak, a play be performed, an exhibition be presented, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A floor elevated for the convenience of mechanical work, or the like; a scaffold; a staging. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A platform, often floating, serving as a kind of wharf. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The floor for scenic performances; hence, the theater; the playhouse; hence, also, the profession of representing dramatic compositions; the drama, as acted or exhibited. [ 1913 Webster ]

Knights, squires, and steeds, must enter on the stage. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lo! where the stage, the poor, degraded stage,
Holds its warped mirror to a gaping age. C. Sprague. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A place where anything is publicly exhibited; the scene of any noted action or career; the spot where any remarkable affair occurs; as, politicians must live their lives on the public stage. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

When we are born, we cry that we are come
To this great stage of fools. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Music and ethereal mirth
Wherewith the stage of air and earth did ring. Miton. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The platform of a microscope, upon which an object is placed to be viewed. See Illust. of Microscope. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. A place of rest on a regularly traveled road; a stage house; a station; a place appointed for a relay of horses. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. 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; as, a stage of ten miles. [ 1913 Webster ]

A stage . . . signifies a certain distance on a road. Jeffrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

He traveled by gig, with his wife, his favorite horse performing the journey by easy stages. Smiles. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. A degree of advancement in any pursuit, or of progress toward an end or result. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such a polity is suited only to a particular stage in the progress of society. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. A large vehicle running from station to station for the accommodation of the public; a stagecoach; an omnibus. “A parcel sent you by the stage.” Cowper. [ Obsolescent ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I went in the sixpenny stage. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. (Biol.) One of several marked phases or periods in the development and growth of many animals and plants; as, the larval stage; pupa stage; zoea stage. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stage box, a box close to the stage in a theater. --
Stage carriage, a stagecoach. --
Stage door, the actors' and workmen's entrance to a theater. --
Stage lights, the lights by which the stage in a theater is illuminated. --
Stage micrometer, a graduated device applied to the stage of a microscope for measuring the size of an object. --
Stage wagon, a wagon which runs between two places for conveying passengers or goods. --
Stage whisper, a loud whisper, as by an actor in a theater, supposed, for dramatic effect, to be unheard by one or more of his fellow actors, yet audible to the audience; an aside. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To exhibit upon a stage, or as upon a stage; to display publicly. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A coach that runs regularly from one stage, station, or place to another, for the conveyance of passengers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Stagecoachmen One who drives a stagecoach. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Theat.) One who prepares a play for production. He arranges the details of the stage settings, the business to be used, all stage effects, and instructs the actors, excepting usually the star, in the general interpretation of their parts. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. Nervousness felt before an audience. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]