English Dictionary

stead

/stɛd/

noun

(obsolete) A place, or spot, in general. / (obsolete) A place where a person normally rests; a seat. / (obsolete) An inhabited place; a settlement, city, town etc.

He found solace in the quiet stead of the library.

意味（1）

(obsolete) A place, or spot, in general.

For he ne wonneth in one certaine stead, / But restlesse walketh all the world around[…].

意味（2）

(obsolete) A place where a person normally rests; a seat.

There now the hart, fearlesse of greyhound, feeds, / And loving pelican in safety breeds; / There shrieking satyres fill the people's emptie steads.

意味（3）

(obsolete) An inhabited place; a settlement, city, town etc.

意味（4）

(obsolete) An estate, a property with its grounds; a farm; a homestead.

But of course I could not do this by myself, so I took a Hottentot—a very clever man when he was not drunk—who lived on the stead, into my confidence.

意味（5）

(obsolete) The frame on which a bed is laid; a bedstead.

The genial bed / Sallow the feet, the borders, and the stead.

意味（6）

(in phrases, now literary) The position or function (of someone or something), as taken on by a successor.

She was so wretched and so vehement, complained so much of injustice in being expected to go away instead of Anne; Anne, who was nothing to Louisa, while she was her sister, and had the best right to stay in Henrietta's stead!

意味（7）

(figuratively) An emotional or circumstantial "place" having specified advantages, qualities etc. (now only in phrases).

Though small and delicate-looking, she gave an impression of intense earnestness and latent toughness, qualities that stood her in good stead when she dared to challenge the most intrusive communist society in eastern Europe.