stage

stage (http://definr.com/stage)

     n 1: any distinct time period in a sequence of events; "we are in
          a transitional stage in which many former ideas must be
          revised or rejected" [syn: phase]
     2: a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or
        especially in a process; "a remarkable degree of
        frankness"; "at what stage are the social sciences?" [syn:
         degree, level, point]
     3: a large platform on which people can stand and can be seen
        by an audience; "he clambered up onto the stage and got
        the actors to help him into the box"
     4: (usually "the stage"); the theater as a profession; "an
        early movie simply showed a long kiss by two actors of the
        contemporary stage"
     5: any scene regarded as a setting for exhibiting or doing
        something; "All the world's a stage"--Shakespeare; "it set
        the stage for peaceful negotiations"
     6: a large coach-and-four formerly used to carry passengers and
        mail on regular routes between towns; "we went out of town
        together by stage about ten or twelve miles" [syn: stagecoach]
     7: a section or portion of a journey or course; "then we
        embarked on the second stage of our Caribbean cruise"
        [syn: leg]
     8: a small platform on a microscope where the specimen is
        mounted for examination [syn: microscope stage]
     v 1: perform (a play), esp. on a stage; "we are going to stage
          "Othello" [syn: present]
     2: plan, organize, and carry out (an event) [syn: bring about,
         arrange]