Meaning & use
stag
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Meanings
nouncountable
A fully grown male deer, especially a red deer, usually with large branching antlers.
Grammar: Countable: a stag, two stags.
Patterns
- a stag with antlers
A large stag stood still at the edge of the forest.
The stags clashed antlers during the autumn mating season.
We saw a stag crossing the road at dawn.
nouncountableBritishinformal
A party held for a man who is about to be married, attended only by his male friends.
Grammar: Often used before another noun: a stag night or stag party.
Patterns
- a stag night
- a stag party
His friends planned a stag weekend in Prague.
The stag was quiet, with dinner and a bowling game.
She joked that her brother's stag would involve a quiz.
adverbnot comparableAmericaninformal
Without a partner or date, especially when going to a social event.
Grammar: Used after go or come: go stag.
Patterns
- go stag
- come stag
He decided to go stag to the school dance.
Several guests came stag and soon found friends.
I'd rather go stag than invite someone I don't know.
Word forms
| plural | stags |
|---|
Common combinations
- red deer stag
- A red deer stag can weigh more than two hundred kilograms.
- stag night
- The stag night ended with a quiet meal.
- stag do
- His stag do was a hiking weekend.
- go stag
- She went stag to the wedding.
- stag beetle
- The stag beetle has jaws shaped like antlers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hart
- Hart is an old or literary word for an adult male red deer and is rarely used in ordinary speech.
- bachelor party
- Bachelor party is the usual American term for a stag night and is used in the second sense.
- solo
- Solo describes being alone in general, while go stag says you attend a social event without a date.
Opposites
Word family
- stag night noun
- an evening celebration for a man about to marry
- stag do noun
- British informal for a stag party
- stag party noun
- a party for men only, especially before a wedding
- stag beetle noun
- a large beetle with antler-like jaws
Commonly confused: stag or buck? stag or stage?
stag vs buck
Buck is the general term for a male deer, rabbit or goat, while stag usually means a mature male red deer.
stag vs stage
Stage sounds similar but means a platform for performance or a step in a process, not a male deer.
Practice
A ___ is a fully grown male deer with large antlers.
Choose one answer.
A stag is an adult male deer. A fawn is a young deer, and a doe and a hind are female deer.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stag”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.