Dictionary

bestay en · VERB

Etymology

From be- + stay, from Middle English *stayen, steyen, from Old French estaier, estayer (“to prop, stay, support”), from estaye (“prop, support”), of Proto-Germanic origin. More at stay.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To secure or steady; cause to come to a fixed position or state; bring to a halt or stop.
   • Mid the half-furrowed field bestay the plough, Bid the twin toilers of the yoke go free, And aught that doth thee patient servitude, From closing sabbath to its blest return, [...] 1834, Theodore Sedwick Fay, George Pope Morris, Samuel Woodworth, New-York mirror:
   • Bestay thee, bestay thee in fighting! 1940, Thornwell Jacobs, Red lanterns on St. Michael's:
   • Hereupon the magistrates of the town cried "Hola, hola, bestay the matter." 1874, Great Britain. Public Record Office, Calendar of state papers, foreign series, of the reign of Elizabeth:

Forms