Stair \Stair\, n. [OE. steir, steyer, AS. st?ger, from ?igan 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.

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.

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 stars (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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)