Definition of stay

• continuing or remaining in a place or state; "they had a nice stay in Paris"; "a lengthy hospital stay"; "a four-month stay in bankruptcy court"
• a judicial order forbidding some action until an event occurs or the order is lifted; "the Supreme Court has the power to stay an injunction pending an appeal to the whole Court"
• the state of inactivity following an interruption; "the negotiations were in arrest"; "held them in check"; "during the halt he got some lunch"; "the momentary stay enabled him to escape the blow"; "he spent the entire stop in his seat"