Meaning of stage In English

• 0 a part of an activity or a period of development:

  • The project is in its final stages and should be completed by August.

  • They did the last stage of their journey on foot.

  • Our marriage is going through a difficult stage at the moment.

  • Their youngest child is at the stage where she can say individual words but not full sentences.

  • I'm not tired at the moment but I will need a rest at some stage (= at some time) during the walk.

  • Andrew spends all his spare time playing with his computer but it's probably just a stage he's going through (= a period of development that will end soon).

  • We're decorating the house in stages so it won't be ready for another couple of months.

  • Once its fuel supply runs out, each stage separates from the main part of the rocket and falls back to earth.

• 1 the area in a theatre that is often raised above ground level and on which actors or entertainers perform:

  • Hamlet is on stage for most of the act.

  • The orchestra went on/off stage to great applause.

  • The play is a stage adaptation of William Golding's novel.

  • The singer returns to the Oslo stage (= will perform again in Oslo) this summer.

  • The president was extremely popular on the world stage but was disliked in his own country.

• 2 to arrange and perform a play or show:

  • The local drama group is staging a production of the musical "Grease".

  • London staged the Olympic Games in 2012.

• 3 a part of an activity, or a period of development:

  • The software is in the early stages of development.

  • At that stage of my life, I was married but didn’t have any children.

  • We’re repairing the house in stages – first the roof and chimney, then the windows.

• 4 the area in a theater, often raised above ground level, on which actors or entertainers perform:

  • [ C ] When you’re sitting in the balcony, you see more of the ceiling than the stage.

  • [ U ] Berlin’s most successful stage musical was "Annie Get Your Gun."

  • [ U ] She was a popular star of the musical stage (= of this type of theater).

  • As a child, he appeared on stage (= performing in theaters).

  • [ C ] His novel includes such actors on the world stage as Fidel Castro and the Pope.

• 5 to arrange the performance of a play or other entertainment:

  • Bejart was staging his own ballets.

  • Bus drivers are planning to stage a 24-hour strike.

• 6 one of a series of periods of development in a process:

  • Flotation is a key stage in the group's development plans.

  • From an early stage financial regulators blamed a lack of internal controls for the bank's failure.

  • At this stage, there is no proposal to change the existing management structure of the group.

  • Negotiations with the union have reached a critical stage.

  • first/final/next stage

• 7 a particular area of public life where important events happen:

  • global/international/world stage His speech at the party conference propelled him onto the international stage.

• 8 if you do something in stages, you divide the activity into parts and complete each part separately:

  • The proposed budget cuts would be made in stages over the next five years.

• 9 to organize a large or important event for a large number of people:

  • London won the bid to stage the 2012 Olympics.

  • stage a conference/event/exhibition

  • stage a protest/stoppage/strike

• 10 to start to happen:

  • stage a comeback/rally/recovery Wall Street staged a dramatic recovery, wiping out most of its early losses.