stead

1 of 2

noun

1
: the office, place, or function ordinarily occupied or carried out by someone or something else
acted in his brother's stead
2
: advantage
used chiefly in the phrase to stand one in good stead
3
obsolete : locality, place

stead

2 of 2

verb

steaded; steading; steads

transitive verb

: to be of avail to : help

Examples of stead in a Sentence

Noun a summer internship will stand you in good stead when applying to college
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
These impressive results were borne out in the pleasing image quality in our photo and video ad-hoc testing, and put the monitor in good stead for movie or photo viewing and even light photo editing. Tony Hoffman, PCMAG, 8 Oct. 2024 Watch on Deadline This grounding stood her in good stead for a story that sent shockwaves through the U.S. election campaign. Jake Kanter, Deadline, 23 Sep. 2024 The onus is now going to be on others to step up in their stead. Vincent Frank, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024 There, the pair were feted by Afghan officials, with Pete now walking in John’s stead, fulfilling his earlier promise to replace one of the brothers if anything happened to them during their journey. Francine Uenuma, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for stead 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stead.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English stede, from Old English; akin to Old High German stat place, Old English standan to stand — more at stand

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of stead was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near stead

Cite this Entry

“Stead.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stead. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

stead

noun
ˈsted
1
: advantage sense 3, service
their knowledge of French stood them in good stead
2
: the place usually taken or duty carried out by the one mentioned
acted in the mayor's stead

More from Merriam-Webster on stead

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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