stairway

stair +‎ way

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈstɛɹweɪ/

  • Audio (US):

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• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈstɛəweɪ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈsteːwæɪ/
• (New Zealand, without the cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /ˈsteəwæɪ/
• (New Zealand, cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /ˈstiəwæɪ/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈsteɹwe/
• (Lancashire, fair–fur merger) IPA^(key): /ˈstɜː(ɹ)weː/
• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)weɪ

stairway (plural stairways)

2. A set of steps, with or without a case, that allow one to walk up or down.

   The phrase "stairway to heaven" has a variety of cultural significances.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway, […] .

• staircase
• stairs

• stair
• stairwell