0 a part of an activity or a period of development: --
Once its fuel supply runs out, each stage separates from the main part of the rocket and falls back to earth.
We're decorating the house in stages so it won't be ready for another couple of months.
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).
I'm not tired at the moment but I will need a rest at some stage (= at some time) during the walk.
Their youngest child is at the stage where she can say individual words but not full sentences.
Our marriage is going through a difficult stage at the moment.
The project is in its final stages and should be completed by August.
1 the area in a theatre that is often raised above ground level and on which actors or entertainers perform: --
3 a part of an activity, or a period of development: --
4 the area in a theater, often raised above ground level, on which actors or entertainers perform: --
[ C ] His novel includes such actors on the world stage as Fidel Castro and the Pope.
As a child, he appeared on stage (= performing in theaters).
[ U ] She was a popular star of the musical stage (= of this type of theater).
[ U ] Berlin’s most successful stage musical was "Annie Get Your Gun."
[ C ] When you’re sitting in the balcony, you see more of the ceiling than the stage.
5 to arrange the performance of a play or other entertainment: --
Men here, in various stages of undress, were pulling on outer clothing and armour.
There will also be cases when a stray candidate from the lexical look-up is rejected by the later stages of analysis.
Many anatomists identified three such stages of visual analysis in the cortex.
In the preliminary stages of analysis, dramatic methods can therefore play a central part in hypothesis-generation.
The period affects all young people and involves a series of stages over a number of years, which are influenced by social and economic status.
Analysis of cytokine mutants during fetal stages could therefore reveal a more complete picture of the role of these cytokines during fetal thymus development.
In the early stages, scriptoria would seem to have proliferated, without being directly linked to teaching.
The dating of the various stages is therefore necessarily approximate, even if the outcome of each is clear.
