upstayv.
1. transitive. To sustain by material support; to prop up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [verb (transitive)]
to bear upeOE
underbearc950
bearOE
holdc1000
weighc1200
to hold up1297
upholda1300
sustainc1330
undersetc1330
comforta1382
underbear1382
upbear1390
sustaina1398
upkeepc1412
carrya1425
supporta1425
chargea1500
convey1514
avoke1529
confirm1542
stay1548
to carry up1570
bolster1581
lift1590
upstay1590
atlas1593
sustent1605
statuminatea1628
firm1646
appui1656
establish1664
shoulder1674
to keep up1681
upheave1729
withhold1769
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. xii. sig. Oo4v Those two villeins, which her steps vpstayd.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. i. 37 They reared him on horsebacke, and vpstayd . View more context for this quotation
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. C2 An uggly cloven foot this monster doth upstay.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 195 The tenth on bended knee His massie Spear upstaid . View more context for this quotation
1793 W. Wordsworth Descr. Sketches 252 Bare steeps, where Desolation stalks,..by a blasted yew upstay'd.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion vii. 340 The Child..by some friendly finger's help upstayed . View more context for this quotation
1873 R. Bridges Elegy on Lady in Poet. Wks. (1912) 239 Each on high a torch upstaying.
2. figurative. To sustain, support.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > support > [verb (transitive)]
lasteOE
i-hentc1225
uphold?c1225
upbeara1300
sustainc1300
understand13..
uplift1338
maintainc1350
supporta1393
underset1395
buttressc1400
supprise1447
bolster1508
stay1526
stay1526
undershore?a1534
underpropa1535
to hold up by the chin1546
back1548
suborn1548
suffult?c1550
upshore?1567
shoulder1577
upstay1600
underwrite1609
abone1622
crutch1641
float1823
backstop1956
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne xvii. xliii. 304 For by the sword, the scepter is vpstaid.
1607 M. Drayton Legend Cromwel 15 That Atlas which the gouerment vpstai'd.
1820 W. Wordsworth River Duddon xxviii. 11 Glad meetings, tender partings, that upstay The drooping mind of absence.
a1861 A. H. Clough Poems & Prose Remains (1869) II. 93 A hand that is not ours upstays our steps.
1883 R. W. Dixon Mano i. i. 2 If God..still with life upstay The hand that writes.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
<
v.1590