n. 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"

n. the volume of commercial activity; "business is good today"; "show me where the business was today"

n. a rightful concern or responsibility; "it's none of your business"; "mind your own business"

n. an immediate objective; "gossip was the main business of the evening"

n. a section or portion of a journey or course; "then we embarked on the second stage of our Caribbean cruise"

n. a small platform on a microscope where the specimen is mounted for examination

n. 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"

n. the theater as a profession (usually `the stage'); "an early movie simply showed a long kiss by two actors of the contemporary stage"

n. 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"

n. the activity of providing goods and services involving financial and commercial and industrial aspects; "computers are now widely used in business"

n. 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?"

n. incidental activity performed by an actor for dramatic effect; "his business with the cane was hilarious"

n. the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money; "he's not in my line of business"

n. business concerns collectively; "Government and business could not agree"

n. customers collectively; "they have an upper class clientele"

n. a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it; "he bought his brother's business"; "a small mom-and-pop business"; "a racially integrated business concern"

v. perform (a play), especially on a stage; "we are going to stage `Othello'"

v. plan, organize, and carry out (an event); "the neighboring tribe staged an invasion"

adj. relating to or characteristic of trade or traders; "the mercantile North was forging ahead"- Van Wyck Brooks

n. a structure consisting of a room or set of rooms at a single position along a vertical scale; "what level is the office on?"

n. support consisting of a place to rest the foot while ascending or descending a stairway; "he paused on the bottom step"

n. a pair of parallel rails providing a runway for wheels

n. the activity of providing goods and services involving financial and commercial and industrial aspects; "computers are now widely used in business"

n. the act of transacting within or between groups (as carrying on commercial activities); "no transactions are possible without him"; "he has always been honest is his dealings with me"

n. a sequence of foot movements that make up a particular dance; "he taught them the waltz step"

n. the act of changing location by raising the foot and setting it down; "he walked with unsteady steps"

n. support consisting of a place to rest the foot while ascending or descending a stairway; "he paused on the bottom step"

n. a pair of parallel rails providing a runway for wheels

n. (biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level; "he proposed an indicator of osseous development in children"

n. the distance covered by a step; "he stepped off ten paces from the old tree and began to dig"

n. a business especially one run on a large scale; "a large-scale farming operation"; "a multinational operation"; "they paid taxes on every stage of the operation"; "they had to consolidate their operations"

n. the volume of commercial activity; "business is good today"; "show me where the business was today"

n. an equal exchange; "we had no money so we had to live by barter"

n. social or financial or professional status or reputation; "of equal standing"; "a member in good standing"

n. proper or designated social situation; "he overstepped his place"; "the responsibilities of a man in his station"; "married above her station"

n. social status or position conferred by a system based on class; "lose caste by doing work beneath one's station"

n. position in a social hierarchy; "the British are more aware of social status than Americans are"

n. the susceptibility of something to a particular treatment; "the capability of a metal to be fused"

n. a condition or position in which you find yourself; "the unpleasant situation (or position) of having to choose between two evils"; "found herself in a very fortunate situation"

n. a state of being essentially equal or equivalent; equally balanced; "on a par with the best"

n. a stable situation in which forces cancel one another

n. (physical chemistry) a distinct state of matter in a system; matter that is identical in chemical composition and physical state and separated from other material by the phase boundary; "the reaction occurs in the liquid phase of the system"

n. a state of equilibrium

n. a relative position or degree of value in a graded group; "lumber of the highest grade"

n. a job in an organization; "he occupied a post in the treasury"

n. training to improve strength or self-control

n. bringing together military forces

n. the special line of work you have adopted as your career; "his specialization is gastroenterology"

n. the act of subjugating by cruelty; "the tyrant's oppression of the people"

n. the persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something; "he claims that the present administration is corrupt"; "the governance of an association is responsible to its members"; "he quickly became recognized as a member of the establishment"

n. a group of followers or enthusiasts

n. a large retail store organized into departments offering a variety of merchandise; commonly part of a retail chain

n. a marketplace where groceries are sold; "the grocery store included a meat market"

n. an area in a town where a public mercantile establishment is set up

n. (usually plural) a social group whose members control some field of activity and who have common aims; "the iron interests stepped up production"

v. act out; represent or perform as if in a play; "She reenacted what had happened earlier that day"

v. assume or act the character of; "She impersonates Madonna"; "The actor portrays an elderly, lonely man"

v. cause to happen, occur or exist; "This procedure produces a curious effect"; "The new law gave rise to many complaints"; "These chemicals produce a noxious vapor"; "the new President must bring about a change in the health care system"

v. perform a work for the first time

v. put into a certain place or abstract location; "Put your things here"; "Set the tray down"; "Set the dogs on the scent of the missing children"; "Place emphasis on a certain point"

v. present for acceptance or rejection; "She offered us all a cold drink"

v. hand over formally

v. ask (someone) to marry you; "he popped the question on Sunday night"; "she proposed marriage to the man she had known for only two months"; "The old bachelor finally declared himself to the young woman"

v. refer for judgment or consideration; "She submitted a proposal to the agency"

v. create and charge with a task or function; "nominate a committee"

v. shape or influence; give direction to; "experience often determines ability"; "mold public opinion"

v. devise or invent; "He thought up a plan to get rich quickly"; "no-one had ever thought of such a clever piece of software"

v. make or work out a plan for; devise; "They contrived to murder their boss"; "design a new sales strategy"; "plan an attack"

v. invent; "trump up charges"

v. come up with (an idea, plan, explanation, theory, or principle) after a mental effort; "excogitate a way to measure the speed of light"

v. make a schematic or technical drawing of that shows how things work or how they are constructed

v. make plans for something; "He is planning a trip with his family"

v. put into a proper or systematic order; "arrange the books on the shelves in chronological order"

v. make arrangements for; "Can you arrange a meeting with the President?"

v. adapt for performance in a different way; "set this poem to music"

v. design something for a specific role or purpose or effect; "This room is not designed for work"

v. plan in detail; "Bush is charting a course to destroy Saddam Hussein"

v. to prepare verbally, either for written or spoken delivery; "prepare a report"; "prepare a speech"

v. cause to happen or to occur as a consequence; "I cannot work a miracle"; "wreak havoc"; "bring comments"; "play a joke"; "The rain brought relief to the drought-stricken area"

adj. organized principally for financial gain; "Christmas has become a commercialized spectacle"

adj. profit oriented; "a commercial book"; "preached a mercantile and militant patriotism"- John Buchan; "a mercenary enterprise"; "a moneymaking business"

adj. (of production of chemicals) made for commercial purposes especially on a large scale; "technical (or commercial) sulfuric acid"

adj. resulting from or dependent on market factors rather than fundamental economic considerations; "analysts content that the stock market is due for a technical rally"; "the fall is only a technical correction"

adj. relating to or used in or intended for trade or commerce: "a trade fair"; "trade journals"; "trade goods"