What does “stay” mean?

Meaning and local context

stay means Be, remain, or be located. in Honolulu and Hawaii local language. In Hawaiʻi Creole English, stay can function where standard English uses be or is.

How it is used

Where you stay? may ask where someone lives or is located. One example is “Where you stay?”, which corresponds to “Where are you / where do you live?” in plain English.

Example interpretation

A second example is “The shop stay closed.”, where the same local sense is expressed as “The shop is closed.”. Reading both examples together helps distinguish this regional meaning from other possible readings of the word or phrase.

Tone and register

Grammar varies by speaker and context; avoid treating it as incorrect English. This caution is part of understanding “stay”: the definition tells you what it means, while the surrounding situation and tone help you judge whether using it yourself is appropriate.