staging
Americannoun
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the act, process, or manner of presenting a play on the stage.
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a temporary platform or structure of posts and boards for support, as in building; scaffolding.
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Rocketry. the in-flight separation of a rocket stage from the remaining stages of a multistage missile or launch vehicle.
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the business of running stagecoaches.
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the act of traveling by stages or by stagecoach.
noun
Etymology
Origin of staging
Explanation
Staging is a set of raised platforms used in a theatrical production. Construction workers also use staging to support them as they repair the outside of a building. In plays and film the word staging can be used for the scaffolding that physically supports scenery and actors — and also for the process of presenting a work theatrically. This kind of staging involves modifying and designing a space, preparing it for a play. Preparing a house in order to sell it is also a kind of staging. If you're an astronomer, you probably use this noun to mean employing many engines, in separate stages, to launch a rocket.
Vocabulary lists containing staging
Reading: Literature - Drama - Introductory
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Theater - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Drama - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Earlier this month, a federal grand jury in Boston indicted 10 Indian nationals for allegedly staging convenience-store holdups in Massachusetts and elsewhere to secure U visas.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
There’s one climactic moment involving spitting when the staging undermines the action.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026
The U.S. equities index is staging “yet another V-shaped buy-the-dip recovery,” according to Yardeni Research.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026
Hundreds of Lufthansa flights were cancelled Monday as pilots kicked off a two-day strike over pay and pensions, with cabin crew announcing they were staging yet another stoppage later this week.
From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026
They were staging a family tennis tournament and had bookmarked ice cream recipes.
From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
