staircase /'steakeis; NAmE 'sterk-/ noun a set of stairs inside a building including the posts and rails (= banisters) that are fixed at the side ( a marble/stone/wooden staircase XMfi / Ei Sk /

— see also spiral staircase — picture c> spiral

stair lift /'stealift; NAmE 'sterl-/ noun a piece of equipment in the form of a seat that sb can sit on to be moved up and down stairs, used by people who find it difficult to walk up and down stairs without help JH MWAffl )

stairway /'steawei; NAmE ‘sterwei/ noun a set of stairs inside or outside a building ( ) $£$5,

stairwell /'steawei; NAmE 'sterwei/ noun [usually sing.] the space in a building in which the stairs are built

mm# ()

stake /steik/ noun, verb

mnoun 1 [C] a wooden or metal post that is pointed at one end and pushed into the ground in order to support sth, mark a particular place, etc. M

"S® 2 the stake [sing.] a wooden post that sb could be tied to in former times before being burnt to death (= killed by fire) as a punishment A IN ft: Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake. $ A $£ $ ib VJ, A ff!) „ 3 [C]

money that sb invests in a company a 20%

stake in the business 20% 4 [sing.] ~ in

sth an important part or share in a business, plan, etc. that is important to you and that you want to be successful (

A A: She has a personal stake in the success of the play.

^^XtMTA^SAf'J^A Ac 0 Many young people no longer feel they have a stake in society,

& J&tfAo 5 [C] something that

you risk losing, especially money, when you try to predict the result of a race, game, etc., or when you are involved in an activity that can succeed or fail R# ft: How much was the stake (= how much did you bet)? A T £ A ft ? 0 They were playing cards for high stakes (= a lot of money). {Ml Mi H IE £ f T ftA, 5!# ft U M „

6 stakes [pi.] the money that is paid to the winners in horse racing 7 stakes [U] used in the names of

some horse races ( ) •••H IHTOl at

stake that can be won or lost, depending on the success of a particular action tic $ $4; # A IP tti;

We cannot afford to take risks when peoples’

lives are at stake. MfE A#35A, 0

The prize at stake is a place in the final.

M tls $ A ^ „ go to the stake over/for sth to be prepared to do anything in order to defend your opinions or beliefs ) ftf —

(am#-) in

the ... stakes used to say how much of a particular quality a person has, as if they were in a competition in which some people are more successful than others ( ) Ifjitfc-Wi*, T&-:

John doesn’t do too well in the personality stakes, ife Ajf M A, — more at up v.

. verb [VN] 1 ~ sth (on sth) to risk money or sth important on the result of sth ( )■ UA fT!&, t-IK

CTI7I bet : He staked £25 on the favourite (= for example, in horse racing). ffe#S0EG&A#$f 653r±#7 25 0 She staked her political career on tax reform,

and lost,

To O That’s him over there—I’d stake my life on it (= I

am completely confident). IftJiSPi&SP'hA

2 ~ sth (up) to support sth with a stake(l) f| ttAS: to stake newly planted trees #] frfi65

W ITiTOl stake (out) a/your ‘claim (to/for/on sth) to say or show publicly that you think sth should be yours

T § fi ; Adams staked his claim for a place in the Olympic team with his easy win yesterday. A$£

teEE,

HffllTO stake sth-*out 1 to clearly mark the limits of sth that you claim is yours '/#H+tfefr-7: § iAAMT &B65 A 0 2 to state your opinion, position, etc. on sth very clearly WM l¥]ft g ) : The President

staked out his position on the issue. A [¥] ft 7 ft A

M ± 65 A if] o 3 to watch a place secretly, especially for signs of illegal activity : Detectives had been staking out the house for several weeks. Eft

f /l-TJUft — related noun stake-out

stake hold er /'steikh0olda(r); NAmE -hou-/ noun 1 a person or company that is involved in a particular organization, project, system, etc., especially because they have invested money in it ( -_T@.

65 ) A, The government

has said it wants to create a stakeholder economy in which all members of society feel that they have an interest in its success. ft# li ft A "- ft A A #M3,65

tmm&i

^ ₀ 2 a person who holds all the bets placed on a

game or race and who pays the money to the winner R#

A

stake-out noun a situation in which police watch a building secretly to find evidence of illegal activities

stal ac tite /'staelaktait; NAmE sta'laektait/ noun a long pointed piece of rock hanging down from the roof of a cave (= a hollow place underground), formed over a long period of time as water containing lime runs off the roof ( fg 71:11 )

stalagmite /'staelagmait; NAmE sta'laeg-/ noun a piece of rock pointing upwards from the floor of a cave (= a hollow place underground), that is formed over a long period of time from drops of water containing lime that fall from the roof ( [g±ft.-t£ )

stale /steil/ adj. 1 (of food, especially bread and cake It , it te ffi fa ffl $1.4) no longer fresh and therefore unpleasant to eat ft§frt#65 2 (of air, smoke, etc.

‘M W) no longer fresh; smelling unpleasant ftfri|65;

( ) ft ft 65; ( 'j@R7 ) at S3 65: stale cigarette smoke

M M 65 ® gU L o stale sweat 3 something that is

stale has been said or done too many times before and is no longer interesting or exciting IA Jffi 65; & W $f M W ; % ^ : stale jokes ft W 5? £K) ^ ik 0 Their

marriage had gone stale, ftfa #] ^ jfi B 7 A; ^ If o

4 a person who is stale has done the same thing for too long and so is unable to do it well or produce any new ideas A-fe ) M«J:

After ten years in the job, she felt stale and needed a change. 4IPTfHvA7+¥£/7, Mf#M7,

► stale-ness noun [U]

stale-mate /'steilmeit/ noun 1 [U, C, usually sing.] a disagreement or a situation in a competition in which neither side is able to win or make any progress (

S33 IMPASSE: The

talks ended in (a) stalemate, ijfc PS A MM,

2 [U, sing.] (in chess g P7 % $g) a situation in which a player cannot successfully move any of their pieces and the game ends without a winner ffi M ; #1— compare checkmate(I)

Sta lin ism /'stailmizam/ noun [U] the policies and beliefs of Stalin, especially that the Communist party should be the only party and that the central government should control the whole political and economic