Definition of "stage"

stage¹

/steɪd͡ʒ/

noun
plural stages
1. A phase.
  Quotations
  Such a polity is suited only to a particular stage in the progress of society.
  1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 1, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans
  "They're bikini briefs", Nicole said. "That just means sexy underwear.""I though naked was sexy.""Well, it is. But sexy comes in stages".
  1986, Daniel Woodrell, Under the Bright Lights, page 66
  Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, and so we entered stage three – what therapists call "bargaining". A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.
  2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21
2. (by extension) One of the portions of a device (such as a rocket or thermonuclear weapon) which are used or activated in a particular order, one after another.
3. (theater) A platform; a surface, generally elevated, upon which show performances or other public events are given.
  Quotations
  Knights, squires, and steeds must enter on the stage.
  1709, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W. Lewis […], published 1711
  Lo! Where the stage, the poor, degraded stage, / Holds its warped mirror to a gaping age.
  1829, Charles Sprague, Curiosity
  The theater is not merely the meeting place of all the arts, it is also the return of art to life.
  1891, Oscar Wilde, Intentions
4. A floor or storey of a house.
5. A floor elevated for the convenience of mechanical work, etc.; scaffolding; staging.
6. A platform, often floating, serving as a kind of wharf.
7. A stagecoach, an enclosed horsedrawn carriage used to carry passengers.
  Quotations
  I went in the sixpenny stage.
  1711 April 14, letter to Stella, Jonathan Swift
  a parcel sent you by the stage
  1782, William Cowper, “Conversation”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […]
8. (dated) A place of rest on a regularly travelled road; a station; a place appointed for a relay of horses.
9. (dated) 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.
  Quotations
  A stage […] signifies a certain distance on a road.
  1807, Francis Jeffrey, “Clarkson on Quakerism”, in The Edinburgh Review April 1807
  He travelled by gig, with his wife, his favourite horse performing the journey by easy stages.
  1858, Samuel Smiles, Robert Stephenson, The Life of George Stephenson: Railway Engineer‎, page 356
  The Mount Vernon, favoured by a good stage of water, soon cleared the narrow Monongahela channel, passed the confluence, and headed down under full steam, […].
  1910, Emerson Hough, chapter 3, in The Purchase Price
  At present, however, in spite of vigorous efforts to increase through train working, the stage-by-stage movement of individual wagons remains the normal method of freight movement.
  1962 December, “Dr. Beeching previews the plan for British Railways”, in Modern Railways, page 377
10. (electronics) The number of an electronic circuit’s block, such as a filter, an amplifier, etc.
11. The place on a microscope where the slide is located for viewing.
12. (video games) A level; one of the sequential areas making up the game.
13. A place where anything is publicly exhibited, or a remarkable affair occurs; the scene.
  Quotations
  When we are born, we cry that we are come / To this stage of fools.
  c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene vi]
  Ere while of Muſick, and Ethereal mirth,Wherewith the ſtage of Ayr and Earth did ring,
  c. 1630, John Milton, “The Passion”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, page 16
  Rooney's United team-mate Chris Smalling was given his debut at right-back and was able to adjust to the international stage in relatively relaxed fashion as Bulgaria barely posed a threat of any consequence.
  2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC
  Paid media is the admission ticket to enter the big-time Washington stage.
  2015, Gary Andres, Paul Hernnson, Lobbying Reconsidered: Politics Under the Influence, page 149
14. (geology) The succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic time scale.
15. (Canada, Quebec) An internship.
16. The notional space within which stereo sounds are positioned, determining where they will appear to come from when played back.
  Quotations
  This way, we simply stretch the image of a monophonic sound across a wider area on the stereo stage and create an altogether bigger impression.
  2013, Roey Izhaki, Mixing Audio: Concepts, Practices and Tools, page 391
verb
third-person singular simple present stages, present participle staging, simple past and past participle staged
1. (transitive) To produce on a stage, to perform a play.
2. To demonstrate in a deceptive manner.
3. (transitive) To orchestrate; to carry out.
4. (transitive) To place in position to prepare for use.
5. (transitive, medicine) To determine what stage (a disease, etc.) has progressed to
  Quotations
  One method of documenting a wound is as follows: (1) stage the ulcer, time present, setting where occurred; (2) describe the location anatomically; (3) measure ulcer in centimeters (length × width × base); […]
  2010, Howard M. Fillit, Kenneth Rockwood, Kenneth Woodhouse, Brocklehurst's Textbook of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, page 940
6. (astronautics) To jettison a spent stage of a multistage rocket or other launch vehicle and light the engine(s) of the stage above it.

stage²

/stɑːʒ/

noun
plural stages
1. (cooking) An unpaid internship in a restaurant where a cook or chef is exposed to new culinary techniques.
  Quotations
  It doesn’t matter that recent reporting on the stage economy of Copenhagen […] has revealed a pattern of abuse and dangerous working conditions for unpaid interns. In “The Bear,” the stage is a dream: Marcus’s tasks are simply to learn from a skilled but kind and patient mentor, to get out and about and feel inspired, and to come up with some new dishes of his own.
  2023 June 23, Tejal Rao, “‘The Bear’ Finds Optimism in the Dysfunctional World of Hospitality”, in The New York Times‎
verb
third-person singular simple present stages, present participle staging, simple past and past participle staged
1. (intransitive, cooking) To work as an unpaid intern in a restaurant.
  Quotations
  Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri): I'm Sydney. I called about the sous position, I'm staging today.Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White): Right. Shit, sorry. Yes. Yeah.
  2022 June 23, Christopher Storer, “System”, in Christopher Storer, director, The Bear, season 1, episode 1, via Hulu

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