Commonly Confused Words Stair and Stare

The words stair and stare  are  homophones: they sound alike but have different meanings. Definitions The noun stair refers to a step or one of a series of steps. The plural form, stairs, refers to a staircase or a flight of stairs. The verb stare means to look steadily, intently, or vacantly at someone or something. As a noun, stare means a long look with eyes wide open. Examples Cole tripped on a stair and fell down seven steps.[W]e joined the lines of office workers who were tunneling down the stairs into the cool underground caverns below.(Margaret Atwood, The Edible Woman, 1969)Next to him in the front  seat of the sedan was Buddy, their nine-year-old boy, who turned his head to stare at them both, his father and mother.(Paul Horgan, The Peach Stone. Of America East and West: Selections from the Writings of Paul Horgan. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1984)After giving me a long, hard stare, Silas put a toothpick into his mouth and walked away. Idiom Alerts Stare (Someone) DownThe  phrasal verb  to  stare down means to look directly and intently at someone or something, usually until that person or animal becomes uncomfortable and looks away.She was able to  stare down the  most fearsome university faculty or boardroom member and when push came to shove, she usually got her way.(Greig Beck, Beneath the Dark Ice. Pan, 2011) Stare (Someone) in the FaceThe expression stare (or staring) in the face means that something is (or should be) noticeable or obvious.And here I am, unknown and unemployed, a helpless artist lost in London—with a sick wife and hungry children, and bankruptcy  staring me in the face.(Wilkie Collins,  My Ladys Money: An Episode in the Life of a Young Girl, 1879) Practice Exercises (a) The  moons perfect yellow  dusted the thickening trees. Humperdinck could not help but _____  at their beauty.(William Goldman, The Princess Bride. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973)(b) He crept close and stood on the top _____ beside me, breathing strangely.(Daphne Du Maurier, The Kings General, 1946)(c) As the Count saw us, a horrible sort of snarl passed over his face, showing the eye-teeth long and pointed; but the evil smile as quickly passed into a cold _____ of lion-like disdain.(Bram Stoker, Dracula, 1897)(d) On the sixth _____, Fezzik  put his arm around Inigos shoulder. Well go down together, step by step. Theres nothing here, Inigo.(William Goldman,  The Princess Bride.  Harcourt  Brace  Jovanovich, 1973)   Answers to Practice Exercises Glossary of Usage: Index of Commonly Confused Words 200 Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs Answers to Practice Exercises: Stair and Stare (a) The  moons perfect yellow  dusted the thickening trees. Humperdinck could not help but stare at their beauty.(William Goldman,  The Princess Bride.  Harcourt  Brace  Jovanovich, 1973)(b) He crept close and stood on the top stair beside me, breathing strangely.(Daphne Du Maurier, The Kings General, 1946)(c) As the Count saw us, a horrible sort of snarl passed over his face, showing the eye-teeth long and pointed; but the evil smile as quickly passed into a cold stare of lion-like disdain.(Bram Stoker, Dracula, 1897)(d) On the sixth stair, Fezzik  put his arm around Inigos shoulder. Well go down together, step by step. Theres nothing here, Inigo.(William Goldman,  The Princess Bride.  Harcourt  Brace  Jovanovich, 1973)   Glossary of Usage: Index of Commonly Confused Words