stair

stair
    n 1: support consisting of a place to rest the foot while
         ascending or descending a stairway; "he paused on the
         bottom step" [syn: {step}, {stair}]
    

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.]
   1. One step of a series for ascending or descending to a
      different level; -- commonly applied to those within a
      building.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. 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.
      [1913 Webster]

   {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.
      [1913 Webster]
    

49 Moby Thesaurus words for "stair":
      amount, caliber, compass, cut, degree, doorstep, extent, footrest,
      footstep, grade, height, interval, leap, level, mark, measure,
      notch, nuance, pas, peg, period, pitch, plane, plateau, point,
      proportion, range, ratio, reach, remove, rest, riser, round,
      rundle, rung, scale, scope, shade, shadow, space, spoke, standard,
      stave, step, step stool, stepping-stone, stint, string, tread