The Collaborative International Dictionary
Stair \Stair\ (st[^a]r), n. [OE. steir, steyer, AS. st[=ae]ger, from st[imac]gan to ascend, rise. [root]164. See Sty to ascend.]
One step of a series for ascending or descending to a different level; -- commonly applied to those within a building.
-
A series of steps, as for passing from one story of a house to another; -- commonly used in the plural; but originally used in the singular only. ``I a winding stair found.''
--Chaucer's Dream.Below stairs, in the basement or lower part of a house, where the servants are.
Flight of stairs, the stairs which make the whole ascent of a story.
Pair of stairs, a set or flight of stairs. -- pair, in this phrase, having its old meaning of a set. See Pair, n., 1.
Run of stairs (Arch.), a single set of stairs, or section of a stairway, from one platform to the next.
Stair rod, a rod, usually of metal, for holding a stair carpet to its place.
Up stairs. See Upstairs in the Vocabulary.
Usage examples of "below stairs".
A rapping on the floor let her know her company was missed below stairs.
Soon after, I heard voices at intervals in a room below stairs, sometimes speaking very low, and sometimes rising, all together, as if in dispute.
He marvelled at the abundance of food the earthcrawlers had within the walls of the redstone place: orchards, gardens, a great storehouse in the area below stairs, even a pond with good water and fish for the taking.