Wiktionary

stag

See also: StAG

English

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A stag (sense 1) of the species Cervus nippon

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English stagge, steg, 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

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  • IPA(key): /stæɡ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -æɡ

Noun

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stag (countable and uncountable, plural stags)

  2. (countable) An adult male deer, especially a red deer and especially one in high adulthood versus a young adult.
    Synonyms: buck, hart (sometimes hypernymous)
    Coordinate term: knobber (sometimes hyponymous)
  3. (countable, chiefly Scotland) A young horse (colt or filly).
  5. (British) A male turkey: a turkeycock.
  6. (by extension, countable, obsolete) A romping girl; a tomboy.
  7. (countable) An improperly or late castrated bull or ram – also called a bull seg (see note under ox).
  8. (countable, finance) An outside irregular dealer in stocks, who is not a member of the exchange.
  9. (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.
  10. (countable, usually attributive) An unmarried man; a bachelor; a man not accompanying a woman at a social event.
    a stag dance; a stag party; a stag bar
  11. (countable) A social event for men held in honor of a groom on the eve of his wedding, attended by male friends of the groom; sometimes a fundraiser.
    Synonyms: (US) bachelor party, (UK) stag do, stag party, stag lunch
    Coordinate terms: bachelorette party, hen party
    The stag will be held in the hotel's ballroom.
  12. (countable, slang) An informer.
    • 1838, [Joseph Holt], edited by T. Crofton Croker, Memoirs of Joseph Holt, General of the Irish Rebels, in 1798, volume II, London: Henry Colburn, page 52:
      We had two disturbers of the harmony of the ship; I mean two stags or informers, one named Robert Wilson, the other John Hewit, from the north of Ireland.
  13. (uncountable, UK, 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.
  14. (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.
  15. (countable) The Eurasian wren, Troglodytes troglodytes.

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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social event for a groom — see bachelor party

Verb

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stag (third-person singular simple present stags, present participle stagging, simple past and past participle stagged)

  1. (intransitive, British) To act as a "stag", an irregular dealer in stocks.
  2. (transitive) To watch; to dog, or keep track of.
    Synonym: shadow

Translations

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Adverb

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stag (not comparable)

  1. 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

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References

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  • (to watch): John Camden Hotten's Slang Dictionary (1873)

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Middle English

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Noun

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stag

  1. Alternative form of stagge

Swedish

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old Swedish stag, from Old Norse stag, from Proto-Germanic *stagą.

Noun

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stag n

  1. (nautical) a stay
  2. an appliance with a function similar to a nautical stay

Declension

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Declension of stag 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative stag staget stag stagen
Genitive stags stagets stags stagens

References

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Anagrams

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