[ noun ] support consisting of a place to rest the foot while ascending or descending a stairway <noun.artifact> he paused on the bottom step
Stair \Stair\ (st[^a]r), n. [OE. steir, steyer, AS. st[=ae]ger, from st[imac]gan to ascend, rise. [root]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.
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.
{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.
His basic structure, of a curved and tiered colonnade broken by a central stair, is handsome, and the stage space is varied - for Juliet's bedroom; for the Capulet tomb - to provide a more intimate, rectangular dance area.
Jogging gurus will head hearty jaunts around town. Also planned are stair climbing, street hockey, vigorous table tennis and what's billed as the world's largest aerobics class to be held on a red stone mesa at the city's sprawling civic center.
Alcoa tells workers to hold onto stair rails and not to enter taxis if the cabbies aren't wearing seat belts.