The noun stage has 8 senses (first 7 from tagged texts)
1. (266) phase, stage -- (any distinct time period in a sequence of events; "we are in a transitional stage in which many former ideas must be revised or rejected")
2. (236) degree, level, stage, point -- (a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process; "a remarkable degree of frankness"; "at what stage are the social sciences?")
3. (205) stage -- (a large platform on which people can stand and can be seen by an audience; "he clambered up onto the stage and got the actors to help him into the box")
4. (153) stage -- (the theater as a profession (usually `the stage'); "an early movie simply showed a long kiss by two actors of the contemporary stage")
5. (68) stage -- (any scene regarded as a setting for exhibiting or doing something; "All the world's a stage"--Shakespeare; "it set the stage for peaceful negotiations")
6. (15) stagecoach, stage -- (a large coach-and-four formerly used to carry passengers and mail on regular routes between towns; "we went out of town together by stage about ten or twelve miles")
7. (10) stage, leg -- (a section or portion of a journey or course; "then we embarked on the second stage of our Caribbean cruise")
8. stage, microscope stage -- (a small platform on a microscope where the specimen is mounted for examination)
Overview of verb stage
The verb stage has 2 senses (first 2 from tagged texts)
1. (9) stage, present, represent -- (perform (a play), especially on a stage; "we are going to stage `Othello'")
2. (5) stage, arrange -- (plan, organize, and carry out (an event); "the neighboring tribe staged an invasion")