6. A place where anything is publicly exhibited; the scene of any noted
action or carrer; the spot where any remarkable affair occurs.
When we are born, we cry that we are come To this stage of fools.
Shak.
Music and ethereal mirth Wherewith the stage of air and earth did
ring.
Miton.
7. The platform of a microscope, upon which an object is placed to be
viewed. See Illust. of Microscope.
8. A place of rest on a regularly traveled road; a stage house; a
station; a place appointed for a relay of horses.
9. A degree of advancement in a journey; one of several portions into
which a road or course is marked off; the distance between two places
of rest on a road; as, a stage of ten miles.
A stage . . . signifies a certain distance on a road.
Jeffrey.
He traveled by gig, with his wife, his favorite horse performing
the journey by easy stages.
Smiles.
10. A degree of advancement in any pursuit, or of progress toward an
end or result.
Such a polity is suited only to a particular stage in the progress
of society.
Macaulay.
11. A large vehicle running from station to station for the
accomodation of the public; a stagecoach; an omnibus. "A parcel sent
you by the stage." Cowper.