to miss stays

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Miss \Miss\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Missed (m[i^]st); p. pr. & vb. n. Missing.] [AS. missan; akin to D. & G. missen, OHG. missan, Icel. missa, Sw. mista, Dan. miste. [root]100. See Mis-, pref.]

1.To fail of hitting, reaching, getting, finding, seeing, hearing, etc.; as, to miss the mark one shoots at; to miss the train by being late; to miss opportunites of getting knowledge; to miss the point or meaning of something said. [1913 Webster]

When a man misses his great end, happiness, he will acknowledge he judged not right.— Locke.[1913 Webster]

2.To omit; to fail to have or to do; to get without; to dispense with; -- now seldom applied to persons. [1913 Webster]

She would never miss, one day, A walk so fine, a sight so gay.— Prior.[1913 Webster]

We cannot miss him; he does make our fire, Fetch in our wood.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

3.To discover the absence or omission of; to feel the want of; to mourn the loss of; to want; as, to miss an absent loved one. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Neither missed we anything . . . Nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him.— 1 Sam. xxv. 15, 21.[1913 Webster]

What by me thou hast lost, thou least shalt miss.— Milton.[1913 Webster]

To miss stays. (Naut.) See under Stay. [1913 Webster]

Stay \Stay\ (st[=a]), n. [AS. staeg, akin to D., G., Icel., Sw., & Dan. stag; cf. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai, of Teutonic origin.] (Naut.) A large, strong rope, employed to support a mast, by being extended from the head of one mast down to some other, or to some part of the vessel. Those which lead forward are called fore-and-aft stays; those which lead to the vessel's side are called backstays. See Illust. of Ship. [1913 Webster]

In stays, or Hove in stays (Naut.), in the act or situation of staying, or going about from one tack to another. --R. H. Dana, Jr.

Stay holes (Naut.), openings in the edge of a staysail through which the hanks pass which join it to the stay.

Stay tackle (Naut.), a tackle attached to a stay and used for hoisting or lowering heavy articles over the side.

To miss stays (Naut.), to fail in the attempt to go about. --Totten.

Triatic stay (Naut.), a rope secured at the ends to the heads of the foremast and mainmast with thimbles spliced to its bight into which the stay tackles hook. [1913 Webster]