stag
English
Alternative forms
- steg (dialectal), staig (Scotland), stagg, stagge (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English steg, stagge, from Old English stagga, stacga (“a stag”) and Old Norse steggi, steggr (“a male animal”), both from Proto-Germanic *staggijô, *staggijaz (“male, male deer, porcupine”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *stegʰ-, *stengʰ- (“to sting; rod, blade; sharp, stiff”). Cognate with Icelandic steggi, steggur (“tomcat, male fox”). Related to staggard, staggon.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /stæɡ/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -æɡ
Noun
stag (countable and uncountable, plural stags)
A stag deer of species Cervus nippon. (2)
- (countable) An adult male deer.
- (countable) A colt, or filly.
- (by extension, countable, obsolete) A romping girl; a tomboy.
- (countable) An improperly or late castrated bull or ram – also called a bull seg (see note under ox).
- (countable, finance) An outside irregular dealer in stocks, who is not a member of the exchange.
- (countable, finance) One who applies for the allotment of shares in new projects, with a view to sell immediately at a premium, and not to hold the stock.
- (countable) The Eurasian wren, Troglodytes troglodytes.
- (countable, usually attributive) An unmarried male, a bachelor; a male not accompanying a female at a social event.
- a stag dance; a stag party
- (countable) A social event for males held in honor of a groom on the eve of his wedding, attended by male friends of the groom, sometimes a fund-raiser.
- The stag will be held in the hotel's ballroom.
- (countable) A stag beetle (family Lucanidae).
- 2007, Eric R. Eaton, Kenn Kaufman, Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America (page 132)
- Members of the genus Pasimachus […] can be confused with stag beetles […] but stags have elbowed antennae.
- 2007, Eric R. Eaton, Kenn Kaufman, Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America (page 132)
- (uncountable, Britain, military, slang) Guard duty.
- 2000, Richard Tomlinson, The big breach: from top secret to maximum security (page 31)
- Between shifts on stag or manning the radio, we grabbed a few hours sleep.
- 2012, Max Benitz, Six Months Without Sundays: The Scots Guards in Afghanistan
- Three days were spent on standby or patrols and a fourth day on guard, with at least eight hours on stag.
- 2000, Richard Tomlinson, The big breach: from top secret to maximum security (page 31)
Synonyms
- (social event): bachelor party (US), stag do (UK informal), stag party, stag lunch
Derived terms
Derived terms
- stag beetle
- stag do
- stag night
- stag party
Related terms
- bull
Translations
adult male deer
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colt or filly
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romping girl
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castrated bull
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irregular dealer in stocks
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Eurasian wren
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social event for a groom — see bachelor party
Verb
stag (third-person singular simple present stags, present participle stagging, simple past and past participle stagged)
- (intransitive, Britain) To act as a "stag", an irregular dealer in stocks.
- (transitive) To watch; to dog, or keep track of.
Translations
act as an irregular dealer in stocks
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watch, keep track of
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Adverb
stag (not comparable)
- Of a man, attending a formal social function without a date.
- My brother went stag to prom because he couldn't find a date.
Translations
of a man, attending a formal social function without a date
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See also
- bachelorette party, hen party
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for stag in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)
Anagrams
- ATGs, GATS, TAGs, gast, gats, tags
Swedish
Noun
stag ?
- (nautical) A stay.
- An appliance with a function similar to a nautical stay.