Definitions for "Stays"
Keywords:  aft, fore, mast, shrouds, backstays
Lines to support a mast, running from near the top of the mast to the bow and to both sides of the hull. The stays to the sides of the hull are also called shrouds, but the line to the bow is always the forestay.
Forwards and backwards support ropes for the masts.
Standing rigging that supports a mast fore and aft.
Keywords:  splints, wore, cinch, baleen, pinch
Stays were worn by children, both boys and girls, from the age of 18 months or when they were walking well. The first stays a child wore were "soft" or lightly boned and were never tightly laced. Stays were intended to support and round the soft rib cage. By two or a little older, the stays would be of a heavy linen, boned with pack thread, reeds, wooden splints, or baleen. These stays fostered good posture. Again, the lacing would be gently firm and not cinch or pinch. Boys wore them to age four to seven years old; girls for the rest of their lives. (See also Woman's Clothing-Stays)
Flexible rods which provide a triangular framework for the goal netting.
Threaded metal rods used to hold the inner and outer sections of the firebox together or to hold the firebox to the boiler barrel
Keywords:  corset, stiffening, skirt, hang, hip
The pieces of stiffening in a corset or the corset itself. See our selection of stays.
A old type of corsets. It is over the dress or skirt hang in the lower edge, opposite a corset which cover the hip.
a woman's close-fitting foundation garment