stead

noun

1. 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!”

   “His nurse had told him all about changelings, and how the little people would always try to steal a beautiful human child out of its cradle and put in its stead one of their own ailing, puking brats […]”

   “Had Daniel Ortega not got himself illegally on to this year’s ballot to seek a third term, his wife might have run in his stead.”

2. (figuratively)A place as it relates to a role, service, or ability; capacity.

   “One may not expect to entirely stop the oncoming energy but the outgoing stands in a different stead, for in this a certain amount of ruling is possible by the native.”

   “For instance, those who operate under generally available terms and conditions or whose interconnection agreements do not confer a contractual right to the BOC performance they seek under section 271 may stand in a different stead than those who have pursued claims that a BOC has failed to perform as required by agreement.”

   “He had intended to create diamonds with his experiments, but the accidental discovery of such amazingly explosive chemical reactions served him in a different stead.”

3. (figuratively, uncountable)A relational or circumstantial position; standing.

   “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.”

4. (countable, figuratively)A place as it relates to situation, circumstance, or status; condition.

   “Anthropology in India started in a different stead than what was the situation of its emergence in other countries.”

   “I shiver to the cold solitude Overwhelming desire to have a different stead I don't know why I don't know why I'm just afraid to fly […]”

   “It is not only the sheer size of its endowment or the range and extent of its network ties that place it in a different stead to other unofficial actors.”

   “The Adidas shirts look fantastic and certainly put us in a different stead.”

   “Adding to the hem of a holy garment suggests a desire to be in a different stead.”

5. (archaic, literary)A place, or spot, in general; location.

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

   “The three Princes ceased not travelling together for seven days, at the end of which time one said to other, "Let us separate and let each make search in a different stead, so haply shall we hit upon our need."”

   “"[…] I went to another stead in the yard to be further from her cries."”

6. (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.”

7. (obsolete)An inhabited place; a settlement, city, town etc.
8. (archaic)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.”

   “Nordic types may turn to Frigga as queen mother of Asgard, or even to good friend Thor, known to gladly bless a new stead and to party with the best.”

   “Only when he reached the stead road, and Wildebeast, did he concentrate on the image of carrion, of food for the sandwolf pack.”

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

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

10. (Singapore, colloquial)One's partner in a romantic relationship.

    “C'mon lah!! Wake up.. Y R U stupid girls so CHEAP!! Imagine a baby making out with an adult! Want to have stead,.. Go find 1 16yr old rich kid lah!! At for let those men take advantage!! Remember Men CANNOT be Trusted!! Boys maybe can.”

    “I prefer to know a guy better as a friend first before even considering him as a potential stead.”

    “One of the best dates I had was with his person who did attempt to impress me with expensive gifts or flowers. My date did asked though but I said no because for somebody who's not my stead and I dun feel there was a need to.”

    “after 2 week or so I decide to tell her I like her and asked her to be my stead. But she tell me she had another guy. So we remain as friend.”

verb

1. (obsolete)To help, support, benefit or assist; to be helpful.

   “May you stead me? will you pleasure me? shall I know your answer?”

   “I could never better stead thee than now.[…]”

   “Some food we had and some fresh water that / A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo, / Out of his charity,—who being then appointed / Master of this design,—did give us, with / Rich garments, linens, stuffs, and necessaries, / Which since have steaded much:[…]”

2. (obsolete)To fill the stead or place of something.

name

1. (countable, uncountable)A surname.
2. (countable, uncountable)A locality in Burley parish, Metropolitan Borough of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE1446).