stairn.
/stɛː/, U.S. /stɛ(ə)r/ 1. † b. Vaguely used for: Something on which one ascends. Obsolete.† c. A ladder. Obsolete.† e. An ascending series, scale. Obsolete.
a. An ascending series or ‘flight’ of steps leading from one level to another, esp. from one floor to another in a house; a staircase.Still the ordinary use in Scotland, where ‘up the stair’, ‘down the stair’ are the usual equivalents for upstairs, downstairs, and ‘(to go up) six stairs’ means what in England would be expressed by ‘six flights of stairs’. (The whole series of steps between two successive floors counts, however, as a single ‘stair’, even when it consists of two or more ‘flights’ or portions separated by a landing.) In England the singular in this sense is now very rare, except in on the stair, which is itself slightly archaic.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun]
stairc1000
grece1382
grecingc1400
pairc1450
slip1480
pair, flight of stairs1556
scale1592
staircase1624
scalier1652
dancers1667
flight1703
stairway1767
apple(s) and pears1857
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 126/9 Ascensorium, stæger.
c1000 Ælfric Lives Saints (Skeat) v. 438 Sebastianus..astah þa up to þære stægre þe stod wiþ ðæs caseres botl.
c1000 Ælfric Lives Saints (Skeat) xviii. 232 He feoll of anre stægre, and forþy gelæg.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 165 Þis holie maiden..þo hie was þreo ȝier heold, [steȝh] biforen þe temple on þe steire of fiftene stoples..wiðute mannes helpe.
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde ii. 813 Adoun þe steyre a-noon right þo she wente.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 115 [Tarquinius] þrewe hym doun of a staire [L. per gradus].
1427 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 66 For a mason & his man a day to make a stayer with iij stappes, xij d ob.
1449 in Cal. Proc. Chancery Queen Elizabeth (1830) II. Pref. 54 To the seid hous shullen be ij covenable steiers, þe on ledyng up from the ground in to þe furst flore, and that other [etc.].
1480 W. Worcester in J. Nasmith Itineraria (1778) 176 A hygh grese called a steyr of xxxii steppys.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vi. l. 248 The scherand suerd glaid till his coler bayne. Out our the stayr amang thaim is he gayne.
?1504 S. Hawes Example of Vertu sig. ee.i Than hardynes & fortune went downe the stayre.
1551 R. Ascham Let. 23 Feb. in Wks. (1865) I. ii. 280 The houses be eight or nine stairs high, that a wonderful number of people may look out of windows.
1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 18 v Forth from my Pallace by a secret staire, I steale to Thames.
1598 Chaucers Dreame in T. Speght Wks. G. Chaucer f. 361v/1 I..walkt..Til I a winding staire found.
1632 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 480 The stayer of [the] little gate, and the stayer on the north syde of the greate gate.
1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 290 A Stair of 20 Steps.
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) Stair was anciently used for the whole order of steps; but stair now, if it be used at all, signifies, as in Milton, only one flight of steps.
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker II. 126 There were two stairs in the house.
1781 J. Moore View Soc. Italy (1790) I. v. 53 The principal entrance is by a spacious stair called the Giant's stair.
1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 441 A stair contained within a circular or elliptical wall is called a winding stair.
1831 W. Scott Castle Dangerous x, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. IV. 234 At length she became sensible that he descended by the regular steps of a stair.
1832 W. Macgillivray Trav. & Researches A. von Humboldt xxiv. 372 A great stair of 57 steps conducts to the truncated summit.
1849 M. Arnold Strayed Reveller, & Other Poems 43 While I speak, o King, I hear the bearers on the stair.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 17 High above a piece of turret stair,..wound.
1907 F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (ed. 2 reissued) I. 3 A concealed door leading to a small private stair.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > [noun] > climbing or scaling > means of
stair13..
footstool1599
leg up1817
13.. Disput. Mary & the Cross 77 in Min. Poems Vernon MS. 614 Cros! he stikeþ nou on þi steir, Naked aȝeyn þe wylde wynde.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > ladder > [noun]
ladder971
staira1400
stya1400
scale1412
Jacob1708
a1400–50 Wars Alex. 1438 Sum stepis vp on sties to þe stone wallis, On ilka staffe of a staire stike wald a cluster.
1567–9 J. Jewel Def. Apol. Churche Eng. (1611) iv. vii. §3 376 Cum Papa per Scalam ascendit, &c. When the Pope taketh his staires to mount on Horsebacke.
d. figurative. A means of ascending in rank, power, moral excellence, etc.
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the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun] > rise in prosperity, power, or rank > occasion or means of
stairs1585
stair1596
setting-forth1602
stepping-stone1653
rise1697
lift1711
leg up1871
a step in the right direction1877
a step up1926
fast track1946
1596 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent (rev. ed.) 469 Now hath he climbed the seconde steppe of this staire to the crowne.
1621 J. Taylor Superbiæ Flagellum sig. D6 Humility is a most heauenly gift, The Stayre that doth (to Glory) men vp lift.
a1633 Visct. Falkland Hist. Edward II (1680) 9 Caring not what succeeds, so he may make it the Stair of his Preferment.
1677 R. Gilpin Dæmonol. Sacra iii. xvi. 117 Pride was the Stair by which he knew they must ascend to it.
1928 T. S. Eliot Song for Simon 2 They shall praise Thee and suffer in every generation..Light upon light, mounting the saints' stair.
1930 R. Campbell Poems 4 All the gifts my faith has brought Along the secret stair of thought.
ΚΠ
1643 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici (authorized ed.) i. §33. 73 There is in this Universe a Staire, or manifest Scale of creatures, rising not disorderly..but with a comely method and proportion. View more context for this quotation
2. † b. A step of a ladder. Obsolete. rare.† c. Applied to a step cut in rock, to one of the successive levels in the ascent of a pyramid, etc.† d. figurative. A step or degree in a (metaphorical) ascent or in a scale of dignity. Obsolete.† e. A high position. Obsolete.† f. A degree of a circle. Obsolete.
a. One of a succession of steps leading from one floor of a building to another.Occurring earliest in figurative uses: see 1d.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > step
stepc825
treadlea1000
stopelc1200
degreec1290
passa1400
pace1423
grece1448
stair1530
footing1725
stair-step1794
gradin1839
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 275/1 Stayre or grece, degré.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. xi. f. 150 To the fyrste porches of their houses..they ascend by ten or twelue steares.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 145 I ascended the same by two hundred and forty staires of marble.
1624 H. Wotton Elements Archit. i. 57 That the breadth of euery single Step or Staire bee neuer lesse then one foote.
1846 C. Dickens Pictures from Italy 226 This man touched every stair with his forehead.
1854 tr. H. Hettner Athens & Peloponnese 8 The roof [of the Propylæa] is in ruins,..the stairs are scattered about in isolated fragments.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > ladder > [noun] > rung or step
stepc1000
gangOE
stavec1175
tine?c1225
ladder stalea1250
degreec1290
rungc1300
staffc1325
stairc1400
ladder stavec1440
scalec1440
roundc1450
stakec1450
sprang1527
staver1534
rundle1565
rave1566
roundel1585
rondel1616
ladder rung1620
rowel1652
spokea1658
stower1674
stale1714
rim1788
tread1838
through1899
step iron1912
c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 513 Wymmen vnwytte þat..Bitwene þe stele and þe stayre disserne noȝt cunen.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > flight of steps > a step
stepc825
degreec1290
gree1303
stridea1400
grece1448
stair?1473
footstep1549
grade1698
stepping-stone1837
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) II. lf. 164v They fonde a rooche entaillid and cutte in to steyers or grees..hewyd out with chyselles.
1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus Famous Hyst. ii. f. 104 They deuised certayne engines..to heaue vp stones from the grounde to the fyrst stayre.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. v. 240 They descend by certaine staires hewen out of the rocke.
ΚΠ
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 208 Þolemodnesse..haueð þreo steiren. Hech. & herre. & alre hest. & nest þe hechȝe heouene.
1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie sig. Diiv The thyrd stayer is thys. How shal they beleue in hym of whom they neuer heard?
1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. i. sig. B2v The elder he growes, hee is a stayer lower from God.
1640 T. Fuller Joseph's Coat 27 So Summa hilaritas, is Ima ebrietas, the highest staire of mirth, is the lowest step of drunkennesse.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > [noun]
nameeOE
talec1175
fame?c1225
lose1297
creancec1330
stevenc1374
opinionc1384
credencec1390
recorda1393
renowna1400
reputationc1400
reportc1425
regardc1440
esteema1450
noisea1470
reapport1514
estimation1530
savour1535
existimationa1538
countenancea1568
credit1576
standing1579
stair1590
perfumec1595
estimate1597
pass1601
reportage1612
vibration1666
suffrage1667
rep1677
face1834
odour1835
rap1966
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. ii. sig. B6 My dearest Lord fell from high honors staire, Into the hands of hys accursed fone.
1627 T. May tr. Lucan Pharsalia (new ed.) v. 441 And..yields at the peoples prayer To be dictator, honour's highest staire.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > measurement of other dimensions > [noun] > of angles > units of angular measurement
stairc1374
degreec1386
minutec1392
prime1738
mil1907
c1374 G. Chaucer Compl. Mars 129 He passeth but a steyre in dayes two.
3. collective plural (of sense 2).in extended use.1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 510 The Stairs were such as whereon Jacob saw Angels ascending and descending. View more context for this quotation† b. construed as singular. A flight of steps, a staircase. Obsolete.† d. Dutch stairs: apparently a light winding staircase. Obsolete.† e. Applied to the outside steps leading to the door of a building. Obsolete.
a. = sense 1. Also, in generalized sense, the steps of staircases. (In the latter use, the plural of sense 2 coincides in application with that of sense 1, and in many examples it is difficult to determine which of the two was intended by the writer.) pair, flight of stairs: see pair n.1 9, flight n.1 7. See also backstairs n., above stairs adv., below stairs adv., downstairs adv., upstairs adv. and n.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun]
stairc1000
grece1382
grecingc1400
pairc1450
slip1480
pair, flight of stairs1556
scale1592
staircase1624
scalier1652
dancers1667
flight1703
stairway1767
apple(s) and pears1857
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. clxv. 1058 Thina beþ certeine trees..and þerof Salomon made stayres and grees and postes in þe houses [read house] of oure lord.
1490 Caxton's Blanchardyn & Eglantine (1962) xlvii. 180 [They] brought her doun the stayers of the paleys.
1556 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 247 The..Coroners wer not thrust downe the stayers.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Conijcio Sub scalas tabernæ librariæ se conijcere, to hyde him selfe vnder the stayers.
1577 N. Breton Floorish vpon Fancie sig. Eij Why didst thou throw him downe the steares in such a sorte?
1631 W. Gouge Gods Three Arrowes iv. §15. 395 The whole garret..and top of staires were as full as could be.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 313 Not able to rest for ratlings and jinglings, both upon the stairs and in the Chamber.
1711 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1889) III. 237 At the bottom of the Stayers.
1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 65 In lieu of such Stairs most Ships..have only Ladders.
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 126 The first Figure is the great Stairs in the Garden..at S. Cloud.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 44 The secretary look'd towards the stairs, as if he was about to leave me.
1825 T. Hook Sayings & Doings 2nd Ser. III. 154 At the foot of the stairs, the company was joined by Mr. Rodney.
1839 tr. A. de Lamartine Trav. in East 116/1 Not far from the entrance of the temple, we found large openings and subterranean stairs which led us into lower constructions.
ΚΠ
1536 MS Rawl. D. 780 lf. 62 Makyng of a new stayers for the Colehouse.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Gradus,..a griese or steppe: a stayres.
1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 23 The composing of a fit and easy Staires being a Masterpiece.
a1706 J. Evelyn Acct. Archit. in tr. R. Fréart Parallel Antient Archit. (1707) 20 The Perpendicular Post of a Winding-staires.
1776 S. J. Pratt Pupil of Pleasure II. 242 It is a good way to any bed-chamber, and the stairs is steep.
1830 G. P. R. James Darnley II. xiii. 306 He led the way up a little narrow stairs.
c. figurative and in figurative context; esp. applied to the means by which a person rises in rank or power. Now rare or Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1576 G. Gascoigne Steele Glas 16 Which..make my backe, a ladder for their feete, By slaundrous steppes and stayres of tickle talke, To clyme the throne, wherin my selfe should sitte.
1600 T. Heywood If you know not Me (1605) A 3 b The suffolke men my Lord, was to the Queene The very stayres, by which she did ascend.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 397 Tyrants very often hew downe the staires and steps whereby they ascended.
1631 R. Bolton Instr. Right Comf. Affl. Consciences 290 In a word, to climbe up more merrily those staires of joy, which are prest upon us by the holy Prophet.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iv. iii. 249 By the stairs of a Parsonage or two he climbed up at last into the notice of Fox, Bishop of Winchester.
1648 J. Beaumont Psyche viii. cxxiii. 125 Here shall they..by Virtues daily Progrese build Unto the Top of Heav'n their mystick Stayers.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > winding or spiral
vicea1382
turngrece1483
turnpike1516
cochleaa1552
cockle stairs1624
Dutch stairs1649
turnpike stair1730
newel stair1851
newel staircase1859
1649 Surv. Manor of Wymbledon in Archaeologia (1792) 10 411 A roome within the turret of the west stayres, having a payre of round Dutch stayres, arising into the very midle of it.
1701 G. Farquhar Sir Harry Wildair ii. i. 11 My bones ake this morning as if I had lain all night on a pair of Dutch Stairs.
ΚΠ
1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 13 So goo to the halle, Whiche is in the market So goo vpon the steyres [Fr. sy montes les degretz] There shall ye find the clothes.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Acts xxi. 31–6 As Paule came to the stayghers of the castell.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Acts xxi. 31–6 The multitude..folowed, euen to the veray staighers of the castell.
4. plural (rarely †singular).
a. A landing-stage, esp. on the Thames in and near London.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > leading to door of building
stairs1517
perron1723
society > travel > travel by water > berthing, mooring, or anchoring > harbour or port > [noun] > landing-place > landing-steps
stairs1517
landing-stairs1838
landing-steps1838
1517 in Archaeologia 47 312 For makyng of an upright steyer of assheler from the Themys as highe as the grounde afore the wacchehouse.
1555–6 Accts. in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 202 The blacke fryers stayre.
1598 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. (new ed.) f. 51 v When my Barge was launched from the stayre.
1643 R. Baker Chron. Kings of Eng. i. 125 He commanded to be set ashore at the next Staires.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 20 This Town hath two and twenty Gates,..five on the streight of the Propontis, having all their landing Places and Stairs.
1698–9 Act 11 Will. III c. 21 §4 The said Rulers..shall..appoint the Watermen..Stairs and Places of plying..betweene Gravesend and Windsor.
1801 J. Strutt Glig-gamena Angel-ðeod ii. ii. 71 A vessel is moored at a distance from the stairs.
1904 A. Griffiths Fifty Years Public Service xiv. 205 Just opposite, on the riverside, were the Millbank stairs.
b. A flight of stone steps, or a steep lane or alley with steps at intervals, forming a passage from one street to another at a different level.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun] > rise in prosperity, power, or rank > occasion or means of
stairs1585
stair1596
setting-forth1602
stepping-stone1653
rise1697
lift1711
leg up1871
a step in the right direction1877
a step up1926
fast track1946
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > flight of steps
gree1303
grece1382
grecesa1400
ascendant1548
stairs1585
gradatory1661
staircase1670
risec1702
flight1703
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iv. xv. 129 b You doe discend by a faire stare, about 3. quarters of a myle.
1649 W. Grey Chorographia 20 Neer this Street is two wayes which goes down into the Close, the long Staires and Tudhill Staires.
Compounds
General attributive. C1. Simple attributive. (Rarely stairs-.)
a.
stair-arch n.
ΚΠ
1883 Good Words July 422/1 Marvellous ‘bits’ of broken stair-arches.
stair-baluster n.
ΚΠ
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Stair-baluster manufacturer.
stair-carpet n.
ΚΠ
1817 M. Holyoke in G. F. Dow Holyoke Diaries (1911) 167 Began to mend Stair carpet.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 181 Mending the piece of stair-carpet off the first landing.
stair-carpeting n.
ΚΠ
1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 4237 Twilled stairs carpeting.
1874 H. H. Cole Catal. Objects Indian Art S. Kensington Mus. 249 Piece of stair-carpeting.
stair-door n.
ΚΠ
1891 G. Meredith One of our Conquerors II. x. 248 A slam of the kitchen stair-door restored her.
stair flight n.
ΚΠ
1896 A. Morrison Child of Jago i. 9 [He] climbed and reckoned his way up the first stair-flight.
stair light n.
ΚΠ
1848 J. H. Parker Rickman's Styles Archit. Eng. (ed. 5) 154 Windows in staircases, or stair-lights, are also of a distinct character in all styles.
stair-newel n.
ΚΠ
1876 T. Hardy Hand of Ethelberta I. xx. 210 She leant against the stair-newel.
stair passage n.
ΚΠ
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair lxvi. 600 The narrow stair passage.
stair-rail n.
ΚΠ
1845 C. Dickens Cricket on Hearth i. 19 Deal doors, dressers, stair-rails, bedposts.
stair-top n.
ΚΠ
1802 G. Colman Broad Grins 123 Being much nearer the stair top.
b.
stair-like adj.
ΚΠ
1863–65 J. Thomson Sunday at Hampstead vii Broad terrace-gardens stairlike sank away.
c.
stair-wise adv.
ΚΠ
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 50v The places, where open fightes wer exhibited, wer made circlewise round about with settles or benches of marble, staier wise one aboue an other.
1871 W. Kay Psalms 403 The rhythmical structure of these Psalms [cxx. to cxxxiv] (in which one line is built up upon another stair-wise).
d.
stair-builder n.
ΚΠ
1859 Easterbrook & Monckton (title) American Stair Builder.
1892 Nation (N.Y.) 11 Aug. 99/2 Two stairbuilders from Boston.
stair-building n.
ΚΠ
1900 W. Mowat & A. Mowat (title) A Treatise on Stairbuilding and Handrailing.
stair-climbing n.
ΚΠ
1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 893 All stair-climbing being strictly forbidden.
C2. Special combinations: See also staircase n., stair-foot n., stairhead n., stairway n.† stair-shide n. Obsolete ? a side-piece for a stair-case.† stairs-shell n. Obsolete = staircase-shell n. at staircase n. Compounds 2.
stair-beak n. a Brazilian bird of the genus Xenops.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > [noun] > family Furnariidae (oven-bird) > other types of
stair-beak1869
thorn-bird1890
miner1924
1869–73 T. R. Jones tr. A. E. Brehm Cassell's Bk. Birds III. 19 The Stair-beaks (Xenops) are a group of Brazilian birds.
stair-cloth n. a fabric for covering stairs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric for specific purpose > [noun] > for floor-coverings
carpencloth1577
stair-clotha1756
carpeting1806
a1756 E. Haywood New Present (1771) 254 If hair stair-cloths are used.
1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 4247 Floor-cloths, table-covering, and stair-cloths.
stair dancer n. slang a thief who steals from open buildings; cf. dancer n. 6.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > burglar > [noun] > who enters through unlocked door or window
area sneak1819
sneaksman1819
sneak-thief1859
parlour-jumper1860
prowler1912
stair dancer1958
1958 Times 10 Feb. 4/5 ‘Stair dancer’ is..the name given by the police to the thief who walks in and out of City offices, looking for something to steal.
1977 ‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon xii. 235 Since he was a stair dancer, a walk-in thief, judges had been inclined to be lenient until the last occasion, when his offence had been said..to have been aggravated by his having broken a window to ‘effect an entrance’.
stairlift n. a device that can be built into a domestic staircase for the conveyance of disabled or infirm people up and down stairs.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > other means of conveyance > [noun] > lift or hoist
steam elevator1801
hoist1835
lift1851
elevator1853
tube-lift1915
stairlift1977
1977 Hansard Commons 24 Jan. 472 Stairlift and personal passenger vertical lifts for the disabled.
1980 BSI News Aug. 13/1 Stairlifts and homelifts are now extensively used in domestic situations, where they can be an invaluable aid to the disabled or infirm person.
stair-maid n. a maid-servant employed about the staircase in a hotel.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > domestic servant > [noun] > maid or housemaid > stair-maid in hotel
stair-maid1895
1895 Daily News 13 Feb. 10/7 Basementmaid or Stairmaid..in hotel or business house.
stair-pit n. Mining (see quot. 1883).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > shaft > other types
stulm1693
whim-shaft1759
sump shaft1778
channel1816
staple1818
incline shaft1842
raise1877
stair-pit1883
subshaft1889
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Stairpit, a shallow shaft or staple in a mine fitted with a ladder or steps.
1887 P. McNeill Blawearie 95 We descended a stair-pit and breathed the peculiar air of the mines.
stair-rod n. (see quot. 1858); also (in plural) a proverbial comparison for heavy rainfall.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > floor-covering > [noun] > carpet > stair-rod
stair-wire1836
stair-rod1843
carpet-rod1847
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > rain > [noun] > heavy rain
tropical rain1764
stair-rod1963
1843 C. Dickens Christmas Carol iv. 130 The old man raked the fire together with an old stair-rod.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Stair-rods, metal rods, usually of brass, fixed in eyes, to secure and keep a stair-carpet smooth in the bend of each step.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 298/2 Stair rods are of solid iron, plated.
1963 Times 22 Apr. 4/6 During the morning the rain came down like stair-rods. During the match it turned to a swirling drizzle.
1977 D. MacKenzie Raven & Ratcatcher i. 14 The rain was falling in stair rods.
ΚΠ
1477–9 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 85 For ij pecis for Steir shides, vj d.
ΚΠ
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. 10 The Stairs shell.
stair-step n. and v. (a) n. one of the steps in a flight of stairs; also figurative and as adj., resembling a stair-step; also attributive in stair-step curve; stair-step, intransitive, to resemble stair-steps; (b) v. to furnish with a range of steps.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [verb (transitive)] > provide with steps
stair-step1794
grade1896
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > step
stepc825
treadlea1000
stopelc1200
degreec1290
passa1400
pace1423
grece1448
stair1530
footing1725
stair-step1794
gradin1839
the world > action or operation > manner of action > slowness of action or operation > [adjective] > gradual or in stages
gradual1692
soft1794
gradationary1824
pedetentous1837
gradational1842
stair-step1959
the world > space > relative position > inclination > incline or be oblique [verb (intransitive)] > slope > upwards > in steps
to bench in1716
stair-step1961
1794 N. Parry Jrnl. 26 June in Kentucky Hist. Soc. Reg. (1936) XXXIV. 386 Ky. hill on the south shore is exceeding bad, being long, steep, & broken with Limestone, somewhat resembling stair-steps.
1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §1089 Soles and lintels, stair-steps, crow-steps.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. i. xi. 75 Then our huge pyramidal Fatherland's-Altar, Autel de la Patrie, in the centre, also to be raised and stair-stepped.
1904 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 10 Sept. 568/1 The neutralization, instead of the stair-step curve, as used by Ehrlich in his spectrum, could be represented by a very regular curve.
1925 C. R. Cooper Lions 'n' Tigers iv. 76 This was the district of ‘stair-steps’, of thin, narrow-shouldered women, trailed by processions of children, five and six in a line.
1944 S. Putnam tr. E. da Cunha Rebellion in Backlands ix. 415 This position..occupied a broad stairstep on the slope of the hill between Mount Mario..and the Vasa-Barris.
1959 Wall St. Jrnl. 12 Aug. 19/2 The ‘stairstep’ plan in use in Nashville calls for integration classes starting with the first grades and adding one grade each year.
1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Stair-step v. intr.
1963 Amer. Speech 38 203 Some of the English terms are literal equivalents of terms used by German-speaking skiers and might be called loan translations:..stair step, Treppenschritt.
1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 11 July 1- c/3 Yellow clover which carpets the banks smells sweet, grassy rims stairstep against the distant horizon.
stair-stepper n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > other specific shapes > [noun] > step(s) or stair(s)
stagea1500
step1674
gradations1698
stair-stepper1925
1925 C. R. Cooper Lions 'n' Tigers iv. 77 Don't need many ladders aroun' this country... All they have t'do is line up the kids and walk on their heads. Ever see so many stair-steppers?
stairstepping adj.
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the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > [adjective] > down from high ground
upland1652
stairstepping1972
1972 National Geographic Sept. 335 (caption) Stairstepping head-waters of the..river cascade out of a..bog.
stair-tower n. a stair-turret.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > [noun] > turret > with staircase
stair-turret1854
stair-tower1886
1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped iv. 32 The key of the stair-tower at the far end of the house.
stair-tread n. = tread n. 8.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > step > tread
tread1712
flat1793
step-board1823
treader1881
stair-tread1919
1919 Brit. Manufacturer Nov. 34/1 Sections..such as are utilised for stair-treads, cornices, etc.
1923 F. L. Packard Four Stragglers 246 Now the muffled, protesting creak of a stair-tread.
stair-tree n. †(a) the sloping timber on or in which the ends of the steps of a wooden staircase are fixed; (b) (see quot. 1688); (c) a tree with steps in it to serve as a staircase.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > stringers
stair-tree1374
sister1518
rail1679
string1711
carriage1758
rough string1819
notch-board1823
bridgeboard1842
stringer1883
society > occupation and work > equipment > mills > [noun] > windmill > other parts of windmill
rown-wheel1688
stair-tree1688
tail1712
roundhouse1772
wind-wheel1867
windmill-cap1875
tail-box1895
quant1924
tail-pole1945
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > other types of stairs or staircase
fore-stair1622
well stairs1669
flyer?1677
French flyers1728
well staircase1729
bed-steps1833
bracket-stair1842
bracket-staircase1842
kitchen stair1844
stair-tree1848
box step1852
box staircase1875
1374 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. 238 Ac etiam steires et steyretres.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 340/2 The Stair Tree is the Post on which the Wheel [of the windmill] turns.
1848 tr. W. Hoffmeister Trav. Ceylon & Continental India xi. 437 The houses rest on basements of masonry, and the ascent to the low door-way is by means of a stair-tree.
stair-turret n. a turret with a staircase in it.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > [noun] > turret > with staircase
stair-turret1854
stair-tower1886
1854 J. L. Petit Archit. Stud. France 73 The western piers are carried up and form stair-turrets.
stairwell n. the shaft containing a flight of stairs, a well (well n.1 10a).
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > [noun] > unfilled space in building > round which staircase turns
open newel1625
wellc1660
well hole1732
stairwell1931
1931 Dougherty & Kearney Fire vii. 99 Stair wells and other shafts extending from the first floor to the roof.
1958 ‘W. Henry’ Seven Men at Mimbres Springs xiv. 164 Shortly, they heard his step on the stationhouse stairs, then saw his shadow rise out of the stairwell's greater blackness.
1977 B. Bainbridge Injury Time xiii. 109 Lights burned on the stairwells of the flats and along the deserted balconies.
stair-wire n. a slender stair-rod of metal.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > floor-covering > [noun] > carpet > stair-rod
stair-wire1836
stair-rod1843
carpet-rod1847
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 148 The very stair-wires made your eyes wink, they were so glittering.
stair-work n. work made or done on or in connection with stairs.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iii. iii. 72 This [child] has beene some staire-worke, some Trunke-worke, some behinde-doore-worke. View more context for this quotation
1903 Daily Mail 11 Sept. 2/7 Many wives stay indoors more than they would through being tired by stair work.
Draft additions September 2018
English regional (chiefly northern and midlands). I'll go to the foot (also bottom) of our stairs and variants: used to express astonishment or incredulity.
ΚΠ
1939 P. Chamberlain in M. Harrison Under Thirty 127 You don't say? Shrimps! Well, I'll go to the foot of our stairs.
1961 A. Owen After Funeral ii, in Three TV Plays 90 Morgan... I'm Welsh, and my whole identity is here in Wales. Dave (in disgust). Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs!
1979 T. Hoyle Man who travelled on Motorways 221 Well I never. Would you believe it. I'll go to the bottom of our stairs.
2000 Re: BT 020s ate my Swingarm! in uk.rec.motorcycles (Usenet newsgroup) 22 June Oooh, well I go to the bottom of our stairs! Learn something new every day.
2018 @Jasonremster 2 Mar. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) A business person with a sense of humour and a knowledge of UK sci-fi? I'll go to the foot of our stairs.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† stairadj.
Obsolete exc. dialect.
Steep.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > inclination > [adjective] > inclined from level or sloping > steep (except of hills, etc.)
staira1175
slidingc1325
steepa1400–50
side?a1475
right-up1511
steep-down1530
steepwise1542
headlonga1557
steep-up?a1560
pitch hill1560
pendent1587
high-pitched1596
steeped1596
perpendicular1598
steepy1735
declivitous1799
steepish1814
escarped1853
steep-cut1888
swooping1956
a1175 Twelfth Cent. Hom. (E.E.T.S.) 110 Þe wæȝ is swiðe heah & swiðe stæȝer þe lædeþ us to heofene.
a1400–50 Wars Alex. 4828 Till he was comen till a cliffe at to þe cloudis semed, Þat was so staire & so stepe þe store me tellis.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 1022 Þise twelue de-gres wern brode & stayre.
16.. As it befell one Saturday 26 in Percy Fol. MS. (1867) I. 244 As I went vp Kelsall wood, & vp that banke that was soe staire, I looked ouer my left sholder where I was wont to see my deere.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
† stairv.1
Obsolete. rare.
1. transitive. To ascend.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > ascend (something) [verb (transitive)]
styc825
staira1400
ascendc1400
mountc1500
conscenda1552
breast1718
a1400–50 Wars Alex. 3923 Stayrand on þe staunke þe stour to asaill.
a1400–50 Wars Alex. 4834 With þat stairis he forth þe stye þat streȝt to þe est.
2. transitive. To make in the form of stairs.
ΚΠ
?a1412 J. Lydgate Fabula Duorum Merc. 635 Though to richesse ther be no grees i-steyred Tascenden vp.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
† stairv.2
Obsolete. rare. northern and Scottish.
transitive. To thrust (a person) through; to thrust (a weapon, etc.) into a person or thing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > injure [verb (transitive)] > wound > wound with sharp weapon
woundc760
stickOE
snese?c1225
stokea1300
steekc1300
bearc1330
stangc1340
chop1362
broach1377
foinc1380
strikec1390
borea1400
dag?a1400
gorea1400
gridea1400
staira1400
through-girdc1405
thrustc1410
runc1425
to run throughc1425
traversec1425
spitc1430
through-seeka1500
stitch1527
falchiona1529
stab1530
to stab (a person) in1530
stob?1530
rutc1540
rove?c1550
push1551
foxa1566
stoga1572
poniard1593
dirk1599
bestab1600
poach1602
stiletto1613
stocka1640
inrun1653
stoccado1677
dagger1694
whip1699
bayonetc1700
tomahawk1711
stug1722
chiv1725
kittle1786
sabre1790
halberd1825
jab1825
skewer1837
sword1863
poke1866
spear1869
whinger1892
pig-stick1902
shiv1926
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > cut of sharp weapon > cut or penetrate (of weapon) [verb (transitive)] > strike with pointed weapon
prickOE
pritchOE
snese?c1225
threstc1275
stokea1300
bearc1330
stangc1340
broach1377
foinc1380
borea1400
dag?a1400
gorea1400
gridea1400
slot?a1400
staira1400
through-girdc1405
thrustc1410
runc1425
to run throughc1425
traversec1425
spitc1430
through-seeka1500
to run in1509
stab1530
to stab (a person) in1530
accloy1543
push1551
stoga1572
poacha1616
stocka1640
stoccado1677
stug1722
kittle1820
skewer1837
pitchfork1854
poke1866
chib1973
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > injure [verb (transitive)] > wound > pierce > impale or transfix
fallOE
through-smitec1300
staira1400
through-beara1400
stake1577
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7667 Dauid him gleud wit his harp, þe king þan hent a sper scarp To stair him thoru vnto þe wau.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iii. iv. 56 All bair Full prevalie thair swerdis in thai stair.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xii. v. 197 On ane altar a birnand schyde hes hynt, And gan it rycht amyd his vissage stair, That blesit vp his lang berd of hair.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
<
n.c1000
adj.a1175v.1a1400v.2a1400