1.any distinct time period in a sequence of events;

we are in a transitional stage in which many former ideas must be revised or rejected

2.a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process;

a remarkable degree of frankness

3.a large platform on which people can stand and can be seen by an audience;

he clambered up onto the stage and got the actors to help him into the box

4.the theater as a profession (usually `the stage');

an early movie simply showed a long kiss by two actors of the contemporary stage

5.any scene regarded as a setting for exhibiting or doing something;

All the world's a stage--Shakespeare

6.a large coach-and-four formerly used to carry passengers and mail on regular routes between towns;

we went out of town together by stage about ten or twelve miles

7.a section or portion of a journey or course;

then we embarked on the second stage of our Caribbean cruise

8.a small platform on a microscope where the specimen is mounted for examination