to stay fresh
- phrasal verb
- And how long will the cupcakes stay fresh?
Examples
-
This technology, known as "modified atmosphere packaging," allows fresh-cut produce to respire slowly and stay fresh during the longest possible storage time.
Academic text (2006) -
Even so, twenty-five days is an unusually long time for a baked product to stay fresh.
Blog text (32) -
You have to find ways to make life fresh to you so that you can stay fresh for your partner.
-
How long does fresh fish stay fresh?
Fiction book (1990) -
If you like natural trees, you can buy one right after Thanksgiving; they stay fresh for a month.
Blog text (2) -
Cookies are not so expensive, so bake them, and they can stay fresh for days when sealed properly inside a jar.
Blog text (26) -
Maxwell House claimed to develop a coffee that stayed fresh-tasting from the first cup in the pot to the last.
Academic text (2009) -
The good-for-you bars don't crumble, and they stay fresh without artificial preservatives.
Academic text (2006) -
According to Snopes, Twinkies do last longer than many other baked goods because they contain no dairy products, but they are only formulated to stay fresh for 25 days.
Blog text (18) -
Green apples stored in the fridge can stay fresh for several weeks.
Synonyms
To stay fresh and not spoil
Antonyms
How Fresh
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to remain in a good, unspoiled condition' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'stay' (to remain) with 'fresh' (unspoiled/fresh); the composition follows a simple and regular adjective-predication pattern. This is a common, cross-linguistically accessible construction, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Stay fresh comes from the simple image of food that does not go bad. The word stay means 'to remain' and fresh means 'not spoiled', so imagine bread or fruit kept cool to stay good, and that's why it means 'to remain in a good, unspoiled condition'.