stages 1 of 2

plural of stage
1
as in podiums
a level usually raised surface spoke to the audience from a small stage in front

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in legs
a portion of a trip this is only the first stage of the journey

Synonyms & Similar Words

3

stages

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of stage

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stages
Noun
The question is whether this interest will be reflected in the budget request for fiscal year 2028, which is now in the initial stages of preparation. Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 30 Aug. 2026 Jacobson and Osterud's efforts did not move beyond the early stages of the recall process. Zachary Fletcher, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026 Lyntris built the production line to handle several stages of the manufacturing process at one location. Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026 Psychologists talk about babies going through mirror stages as a step in their development of subjectivity. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026 Van Gisbergen leads Preece by 31 points — a relatively small cushion that could be quickly trimmed in the opening stages. ABC News, 28 Aug. 2026 There are a number of vaccines specifically designed to target the Bundibugyo strain in various stages of development. Victoria Forster, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026 But Barca need more than that to reach the latter stages of the Champions League. Pol Ballús, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026 Typically, these stages are used to create intimacy between actors and their audience. Claire Murphy, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
Verb
August 2027 will be the last time that East Lake stages the championship in its four-day, 72-hole format. Ken Sugiura, AJC.com, 29 Aug. 2026 For the last decade, Goodheart has also been the producing artistic director of the Elm Shakespeare Company, which stages Shakespeare plays every summer in Edgerton Park on the New Haven/Hamden border. Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2026 And the International Olympic Committee stages a Youth Olympic Games every four years for those ages 15 to 17. Matt Viser, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026 Just don’t expect anything to be finalized before NBC stages its near-instant replay of Super Bowl LX at Lumen Field. Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 31 July 2026 Destin Daniel Cretton stages the Spidey action with a clever, leaping grandeur that delivers what these movies need to. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 28 July 2026 At the 2024 Olympic Games, Canada used a drone to spy on New Zealand, their opponents in the women’s football group stages. Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 22 July 2026 When the two storylines collide, Nolan stages a clash of A-list titans that throws the director’s usual cerebral machinations aside and instead satisfies his audience with some good old-fashion bloodlust. James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 16 July 2026 The money handoff The film stages an argument between Donnie and Jon Bernthal’s Brad Bodnick during a money exchange that ends with Brad’s arrest. Jp Mangalindan, Entertainment Weekly, 14 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stages
Noun
  • Hernandez went on to compete and win multiple medals, sharing her spots on the medal podiums with the cisgender athletes who otherwise would have claimed them had Hernandez not been competing.
    Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Norris has raced in 163 Grands Prix for McLaren, more than any other driver in the team's history, securing 18 pole positions, 48 podiums, and 13 wins.
    ABC News, ABC News, 29 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • Cole had noticed the legs of their dining table and the Bakelite switches in Murphy’s house.
    Laura Preston, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Aside from the standard three pairs of legs, this specimen had an abdomen that sprouted another nine pairs of appendages.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 30 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • A week after losing 49-35 to Batavia, Maine South came out strong in all three phases of the game.
    Bobby Narang, Chicago Tribune, 29 Aug. 2026
  • The next two phases, Elephant Springs and Predators of Asia and Africa, opened in 2021 and 2023 respectively.
    Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Fans have traveled from around the world to watch the film in IMAX 70mm, a rare film format that offers an immersive viewing experience.
    Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Your mission is to aid the ongoing resistance, and the game offers significant freedom in how to approach mission objectives.
    Jason Cohen, PC Magazine, 27 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • According to The New York Times, Meta and other tech companies, including YouTube, TikTok, and Snap, have thousands of cases open across multiple states that allege the platforms are addictive for children.
    Elizabeth Gulino, Allure, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Its higher energy storage allows platforms to power onboard equipment for longer, including when their engines are switched off.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 2 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Roman, named after the woman at NASA who championed the Hubble telescope, will run explorational laps around the 36-year-old observatory.
    Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026
  • But Leclerc stayed out for several laps, aggravating Hamilton in the process.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 24 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • Grandmasters premiered as a documentary series at Tribeca Festival in June but will launch in theaters as a nonfiction feature told in three chapters.
    Matthew Carey, Deadline, 27 Aug. 2026
  • What’s remarkable is how often the main chapters of this story have unfolded in coastal or mountain retreats.
    Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Shalini Adnani’s poignant coming-of-age drama Our Share of Sand presents a unique perspective on India’s gaping class inequality, child labor and the deep corruption underpinning a family’s economic status.
    Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2026
  • For this reason, Triola’s belief that a machine’s aggregation acumen presents chefs with an innovative tool for designing recipes strikes me as misguided.
    Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Stages.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stages. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!