staircase
/ˈstɛɹˌkeɪs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.58 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A flight of stairs; a stairway.
verb
To modify (a signal, a graph, etc.) to reduce a smooth curve to a series of discrete steps.
Transitive verb
verb
To increase one's share in a co-ownership.
Example Sentences
- "I was on the staircase by the bell / Blinded by the black magician's spell"
- "Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear."
- "When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. He had him gripped firmly by the arm, since he felt it was not safe to let him loose, and he had no immediate idea what to do with him."
- "Oliver immediately gets a 'guided tour, Felix wheeling through libraries and endless colour-coded rooms, up and down staircases and along echoing halls where various "dead relly[s]" stare down from the walls."
- "This leads to much smoother reconstructions in regions of moderate gradient and thus prevents staircasing."
- "It is a good idea to make plans for staircasing when you first buy your shared ownership home."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *steygʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *stéygʰeti Proto-Germanic *stīganą Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *staigijaną Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Germanic *-raz Proto-Germanic *staigraz Proto-Germanic *staigriz Proto-West Germanic *staigri Old English stǣġer Middle English steire English stair English case English staircase From stair + case.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈstɛɹˌkeɪs/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
jaggies
staircasing effect