outstay

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *úd

Proto-Germanic *ūt

Proto-Germanic *ūt-

Old English ūt-

Middle English ut-

English out-

English stay

English outstay

From out- + stay.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Rhymes: -eɪ

Verb

outstay (third-person singular simple present outstays, present participle outstaying, simple past and past participle outstayed)

1. (transitive) To stay beyond or longer than.
   • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 149:

     Podson stayed till after five, though he handsomely apologized for outstaying a call. "The fact is, I never think of the time, when I get talking to a really intelligent woman..."

Derived terms

• outstayer
• outstay one's welcome

Anagrams

• stay out