Stairway, staircase, stairwell, flight of stairs, or simply stairs are names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps. Stairs may be straight, round, or may consist of two or more straight pieces connected at angles.
Special types of stairs include escalators and ladders. Some alternatives to stairs are elevators (UK: lifts), stairlifts and inclined moving walkways as well as stationary inclined sidewalks (UK: pavements).
Read more about Stairs: Ergonomics and Building Code Requirements, USA Building Regulations, UK Building Regulations, Forms, Notable Sets of Stairs, Image in Art, Gallery
Famous quotes containing the word stairs:
“Where do we find ourselves? In a series of which we do not know the extremes, and believe that it has none. We wake and find ourselves on a stair; there are stairs below us, which we seem to have ascended; there are stairs above us, many a one, which go upward and out of sight.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“If you want to buy my wares
Follow me and climb the stairs ...
Love for sale.”
—Cole Porter (1893–1964)
“When they sometimes
Come down the stairs at night and stand perplexed
Behind the door and headboard of the bed,
Brushing their chalky skull with chalky fingers,
With sounds like the dry rattling of a shutter,”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)