noun

• (by extension) One of the portions of a device (such as a rocket or thermonuclear weapon) which are used or activated in a particular order, one after another.
  "The first stage of the launcher burned out and separated after successfully boosting the payload onto a suborbital trajectory, but the engine of the upper stage failed to ignite to place the satellite into orbit."
• (theater) A platform; a surface, generally elevated, upon which show performances or other public events are given.
  "The band returned to the stage to play an encore."
• (dated) A place of rest on a regularly travelled road; a station, way station; a place appointed for a relay of horses.
• (dated) 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.
  "a stage of ten miles"

verb

• (transitive) To produce on a stage, to perform a play.
  "The local theater group will stage "Pride and Prejudice"."
• (transitive) To orchestrate; to carry out.
  "The workers staged a strike."
• (transitive) To place in position to prepare for use.
  "We staged the cars to be ready for the start, then waited for the starter to drop the flag."
• (transitive, medicine) To determine what stage (a disease, etc.) has progressed to
  "One method of documenting a wound is as follows: (1) stage the ulcer, time present, setting where occurred; (2) describe the location anatomically; (3) measure ulcer in centimeters (length × width × base); […]"

noun

• (cooking) An unpaid internship in a restaurant where a cook or chef is exposed to new culinary techniques.
  "It doesn’t matter that recent reporting on the stage economy of Copenhagen […] has revealed a pattern of abuse and dangerous working conditions for unpaid interns. In “The Bear,” the stage is a dream: Marcus’s tasks are simply to learn from a skilled but kind and patient mentor, to get out and about and feel inspired, and to come up with some new dishes of his own."

verb

• (intransitive, cooking) To work as an unpaid intern in a restaurant.
  "I’ve been chosen to stage at Coloniál, the Michelin-starred restaurant that I will one day lie about running. Stage is restaurant-speak for free labor, but I’m unconcerned."