v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Abstained p. pr. & vb. n. Abstaining. ] [ OE. absteynen, abstenen, OF. astenir, abstenir, F. abstenir, fr. L. abstinere, abstentum, v. t. & v. i., to keep from; ab, abs + tenere to hold. See Tenable. ] To hold one's self aloof; to forbear or refrain voluntarily, and especially from an indulgence of the passions or appetites; -- with from. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not a few abstained from voting. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who abstains from meat that is not gaunt? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To refrain; forbear; withhold; deny one's self; give up; relinquish. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To hinder; to withhold. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whether he abstain men from marrying. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who abstains; esp., one who abstains from the use of intoxicating liquors. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ }, a. Private; indirect; secret; conducted with secrecy; intriguing; -- as if finding access by the back stairs; as, backstairs gossip.
Syn. -- clandestine, cloak-and-dagger, hugger-mugger, hush-hush, on the quiet(predicate), secret, subterranean, surreptitious, undercover, underground. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

A backstairs influence. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Female caprice and backstair influence. Trevelyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

. pos>n. Stairs in the back part of a house, as distinguished from the front stairs; a second staircase at the rear of a building; hence, a private or indirect way. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To stain. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. stained with blood; as, a bloodstained shirt; a bloodstained carpet; a bloodstained sidewalk. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Distained p. pr. & vb. n. Distaining. ] [ OE. desteinen, OF. desteindre to take away the color, F. déteindre; pref. des- (L. dis-) + F. teindre to tinge, dye, L. tingere. See Tinge, and cf. Stain. ] To tinge with a different color from the natural or proper one; to stain; to discolor; to sully; to tarnish; to defile; -- used chiefly in poetry. “Distained with dirt and blood.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ She ] hath . . . distained her honorable blood. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

The worthiness of praise distains his worth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. on or of the lower floors of a building, especially the ground floor; as, the downstairs (or downstair phone; the house has no downstairs bathroom. Opposite of upstairs. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. Down the stairs; to a lower floor; as, she headed downstairs as soon as she heard the horn. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

adj. being the seat or source of life; performing a necessary function in the living body; as, the need for life-sustaining air and water.
Syn. -- vital. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. A close-grained, heavy wood of a brownish color, brought from Brazil, and used in turning, for making the handles of tools, and the like. [ Written also mostahiba. ] MaElrath. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A tyrant flycatcher (Milvulus forficatus) of the Southern United States and Mexico, which has a deeply forked tail. It is light gray above, white beneath, salmon on the flanks, and fiery red at the base of the crown feathers. [ 1913 Webster ]

imp. & p. p. of Stay. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Stay to stop. ] Sober; grave; steady; sedate; composed; regular; not wild, volatile, flighty, or fanciful. “Sober and staid persons.” Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

O'erlaid with black, staid Wisdom's hue. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Sober; grave; steady; steadfast; composed; regular; sedate. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a staid manner, sedately. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being staid; seriousness; steadiness; sedateness; regularity; -- the opposite of wildness, or levity. [ 1913 Webster ]

If sometimes he appears too gay, yet a secret gracefulness of youth accompanies his writings, though the staidness and sobriety of age be wanting. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Sobriety; gravity; steadiness; regularity; constancy; firmness; stability; sedateness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A handle, as of a mop; a stale. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Stained p. pr. & vb. n. Staining. ] [ Abbrev. fr. distain. ] 1. To discolor by the application of foreign matter; to make foul; to spot; as, to stain the hand with dye; armor stained with blood. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To color, as wood, glass, paper, cloth, or the like, by processes affecting, chemically or otherwise, the material itself; to tinge with a color or colors combining with, or penetrating, the substance; to dye; as, to stain wood with acids, colored washes, paint rubbed in, etc.; to stain glass. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To spot with guilt or infamy; to bring reproach on; to blot; to soil; to tarnish. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of honor void,
Of innocence, of faith, of purity,
Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To cause to seem inferior or soiled by comparison. [ 1913 Webster ]

She stains the ripest virgins of her age. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

That did all other beasts in beauty stain. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stained glass, glass colored or stained by certain metallic pigments fused into its substance, -- often used for making ornamental windows. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To paint; dye; blot; soil; sully; discolor; disgrace; taint. -- Paint, Stain, Dye. These denote three different processes; the first mechanical, the other two, chiefly chemical. To paint a thing is to spread a coat of coloring matter over it; to stain or dye a thing is to impart color to its substance. To stain is said chiefly of solids, as wood, glass, paper; to dye, of fibrous substances, textile fabrics, etc.; the one, commonly, a simple process, as applying a wash; the other more complex, as fixing colors by mordants. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To give or receive a stain; to grow dim. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A discoloration by foreign matter; a spot; as, a stain on a garment or cloth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A natural spot of a color different from the gound. [ 1913 Webster ]

Swift trouts, diversified with crimson stains. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Taint of guilt; tarnish; disgrace; reproach. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nor death itself can wholly wash their stains. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our opinion . . . is, I trust, without any blemish or stain of heresy. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Cause of reproach; shame. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A tincture; a tinge. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

You have some stain of soldier in you. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Blot; spot; taint; pollution; blemish; tarnish; color; disgrace; infamy; shame. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who stains or tarnishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A workman who stains; as, a stainer of wood. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Free from stain; immaculate. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The very care he took to keep his name
Stainless, with some was evidence of shame. Crabbe. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Blameless; spotless; faultless. See Blameless. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a stainless manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. steir, steyer, AS. st&aemacr_;ger, from stīgan to ascend, rise. √164. See Sty to ascend. ] 1. One step of a series for ascending or descending to a different level; -- commonly applied to those within a building. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A series of steps, as for passing from one story of a house to another; -- commonly used in the plural; but originally used in the singular only. “I a winding stair found.” Chaucer's Dream. [ 1913 Webster ]

Below stairs, in the basement or lower part of a house, where the servants are. --
Flight of stairs, the stairs which make the whole ascent of a story. --
Pair of stairs, a set or flight of stairs. -- pair, in this phrase, having its old meaning of a set. See Pair, n., 1. --
Run of stairs (Arch.), a single set of stairs, or section of a stairway, from one platform to the next. --
Stair rod, a rod, usually of metal, for holding a stair carpet to its place. --
Up stairs. See Upstairs in the Vocabulary. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A flight of stairs with their supporting framework, casing, balusters, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

To make a complete staircase is a curious piece of architecture. Sir H. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Staircase shell. (Zool.) (a) Any scalaria, or wentletrap. (b) Any species of Solarium, or perspective shell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The head or top of a staircase. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A flight of stairs or steps; a staircase. “A rude and narrow stairway.” Moore. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. staeð a bank, shore, from the root of E. stead. ] A landing place; an elevated staging upon a wharf for discharging coal, etc., as from railway cars, into vessels. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A man employed in weighing and shipping at a staith. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Sustained p. pr. & vb. n. Sustaining. ] [ OE. sustenen, susteinen, OF. sustenir, sostenir, F. soutenir (the French prefix is properly fr. L. subtus below, fr. sub under), L. sustinere; pref. sus- (see Sub-) + tenere to hold. See Tenable, and cf. Sustenance. ] 1. To keep from falling; to bear; to uphold; to support; as, a foundation sustains the superstructure; a beast sustains a load; a rope sustains a weight. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every pillar the temple to sustain. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, to keep from sinking, as in despondence, or the like; to support. [ 1913 Webster ]

No comfortable expectations of another life to sustain him under the evils in this world. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To maintain; to keep alive; to support; to subsist; to nourish; as, provisions to sustain an army. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To aid, comfort, or relieve; to vindicate. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

His sons, who seek the tyrant to sustain. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To endure without failing or yielding; to bear up under; as, to sustain defeat and disappointment. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To suffer; to bear; to undergo. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shall Turnus, then, such endless toil sustain? Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

You shall sustain more new disgraces. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To allow the prosecution of; to admit as valid; to sanction; to continue; not to dismiss or abate; as, the court sustained the action or suit. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To prove; to establish by evidence; to corroborate or confirm; to be conclusive of; as, to sustain a charge, an accusation, or a proposition. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To support; uphold; subsist; assist; relieve; suffer; undergo. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, upholds or sustains; a sustainer. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I waked again, for my sustain was the Lord. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. soutenable, OF. soustenable. ] Capable of being sustained or maintained; as, the action is not sustainable. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Held up to a certain pitch, degree, or level; uniform; as, sustained pasion; a sustained style of writing; a sustained note in music. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, sustains. Waterland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of sustaining; maintenance; support. Milton. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to the kitchen, or the servants' quarters; hence, subordinate; menial. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The basement or cellar. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

See obnoxious.
See observable.
See observant.
See obstructive.
See obvious.
See official.
See officious.
See oppressive.
See ordinary.
See ordinate.
See original.
See ornamental.
See orthodox.
See ostentatious.
See pacifiable.
See pacific.
See painful.
See palatable.
See parallelable.
See pardonable.
See partable.
See participant.
See passionate.
See pastoral.
See pathetic.
See patriotic.
See peaceable.
See peaceful.
See pedantic.
See perceivable.
See perceptible.
See perilous.
See permanent.
See personable.
See perspirable.
See persuadable.
See persuasive.
See philanthropic.
See philosophic.
See philosophical.
See physical.
See picturesque.
See pierceable.
See pitiful.
See plain.
See plausible.
See plausive.
See pleadable.
See pleasurable.
See pliable.
See pliant.
See plumb.
See poetic.
See poetical.
See political.
See popular.
See populous.
See portable.
See potable.
See precarious.
See precise.
See pregnant.
See prejudicate.
See prelatical.
See premeditable.
See presentable.
See preservable.
See presumptuous.
See pretentious.
See pretty.
See prevalent.
See priestly.
See primitive.
See princely.
See procurable.
See producible.
See productive.
See professional.
See profitable.
See prolific.
See pronounceable.
See prophetic.
See propitious.
See proportionable.
See proportionate.
See prosperous.
See provable.
See punctilious.
See punctual.
See punishable.
See pure.
See qualifiable.
See quenchable.
See quiet.
See rational.
See readable.
See reasonable.
See recallable.
See reclaimable.
See recognizable.
See reconcilable.
See recoverable.
See recumbent.
See reformable.
See refusable.
See regardable.
See regardant.
See relative.
See relievable.
See reluctant.
See remarkable.
See remediable.
See rememberable.
See remorseful.
See removable.
See remunerative.
See repairable.
See repealable.
See repentant.
See reprovable.
See repugnant.
See requisite.
See requitable.
See resolvable.
See respectable.
See restful.
See retentive.
See returnable.
See revengeful.
See ridable.
See ridiculous.
See rightful.
See romantic.
See rough.
See royal.
See ruinable.
See ruly.
See sacrificial.
See safe.
See sage.
See sailable.
See salable.
See sane.
See sanguine.
See sanitary.
See satisfactory.
See satisfiable.
See saturable.
See savory.
See scalable.
See scaly.
See scholarly.
See scholastic.
See scientific.
See scornful.
See scriptural.
See sculptural.
See seaworthy.
See sectarian.
See secular.
See sedentary.
See selfish.
See sentient.
See sentimental.
See serviceable.
See severe.
See shamefaced.
See shamefast.
See shapely.
See shy.
See sick.
See sicker.
See sightly.
See simple.
See sinewy.
See sizable.
See sleek.
See slumberous.
See sly.
See smooth.
See smotherable.
See smutty.
See sober.
See sociable.
See social.
See solemn.
See soliciutous.
See solvable.
See speakable.
See speedy.
See spiritual.
See spontaneous.
See sportful.
See sportsmanlike.
See statutable.
See steadfast.
See steady.
See stormy.
See stout.
See strong.
See subduable.
See subject.
See submissive.
See subordinate.
See substantial.
See successive.
See succorable.
See suggestive.
See suitable.
See sunny.
See superfluous.
See supple.
See sure.
See surpassable.
See susceptible.
See suspect.
See suspectable.
See suspicious.
See sustainable.
See sweet.
See syllogistical.
See symbolic.
See sympathetic.
See systematic.
See tamable.
See tame.
See teachable.
See technical.
See tellable.
See tenable.
See tender.
See terrestrial.
See terrific.
See thankful.
See theological.
See thinkable.
See thirsty.
See thorny.
See thoughtful.
See tidy.
See tillable.
See toothsome.
See touchable.
See traceable.
See tractable.
See tragic.
See tranquil.
See transferable.
See translatable.
See transmutable.
See transparent.
See transpassable.
See traversable.
See tremulous.
See trimphant.
See trustworthy.
See trusty.
See tumultous.
See tunable.
See uniform.
See usable.
See useful.
See vanquishable.
See variant.
See venerable.
See venomous.
See veracious.
See verdant.
See veritable.
See vigilant.
See vigorous.
See virtuous.
See vital.
See vitrifiable.
See vocal.
See voidable.
See voluptuous.
See voyageable.
See vulgar.
See walkable.
See warlike.
See watchful.
See watery.
See wealthy.
See wearable.
See weary.
See welcome.
See wet.
See wholesome.
See wieldsome.
See willful.
See wily.
See witty.
See womanly.
See workable.
See workmanlike.
See worldly.
See worshipful.
See wrathful.
See writable.
See zealous.
------ and the like.
[ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Up the stairs; in or toward an upper story. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Being above stairs; as, an upstairs room. [ 1913 Webster ]