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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Staff \Staff\ (st[.a]f), n.; pl. {Staves} (st[=a]vz or
st[aum]vz; 277) or {Staffs} (st[.a]fs) in senses 1-9,
{Staffs} in senses 10, 11. [AS. staef a staff; akin to LG. &
D. staf, OFries. stef, G. stab, Icel. stafr, Sw. staf, Dan.
stav, Goth. stabs element, rudiment, Skr. sth[=a]pay to cause
to stand, to place. See {Stand}, and cf. {Stab}, {Stave}, n.]
1. A long piece of wood; a stick; the long handle of an
instrument or weapon; a pole or stick, used for many
purposes; as, a surveyor's staff; the staff of a spear or
pike.
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And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of
the altar to bear it withal. --Ex. xxxviii.
7.
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With forks and staves the felon to pursue. --Dryden.
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2. A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a
person walking; hence, a support; that which props or
upholds. "Hooked staves." --Piers Plowman.
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The boy was the very staff of my age. --Shak.
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He spoke of it [beer] in "The Earnest Cry," and
likewise in the "Scotch Drink," as one of the staffs
of life which had been struck from the poor man's
hand. --Prof.
Wilson.
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3. A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a
badge of office; as, a constable's staff.
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Methought this staff, mine office badge in court,
Was broke in twain. --Shak.
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All his officers brake their staves; but at their
return new staves were delivered unto them.
--Hayward.
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4. A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.
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5. The round of a ladder. [R.]
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I ascended at one [ladder] of six hundred and
thirty-nine staves. --Dr. J.
Campbell (E.
Brown's
Travels).
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6. A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded,
the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.
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Cowley found out that no kind of staff is proper for
an heroic poem, as being all too lyrical. --Dryden.
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7. (Mus.) The five lines and the spaces on which music is
written; -- formerly called {stave}.
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8. (Mech.) An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.
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9. (Surg.) The grooved director for the gorget, or knife,
used in cutting for stone in the bladder.
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10. [From {Staff}, 3, a badge of office.] (Mil.) An
establishment of officers in various departments attached
to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander
of an army. The general's staff consists of those
officers about his person who are employed in carrying
his commands into execution. See {['E]tat Major}.
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11. Hence: A body of assistants serving to carry into effect
the plans of a superintendent or manager; sometimes used
for the entire group of employees of an enterprise,
excluding the top management; as, the staff of a
newspaper.
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{Jacob's staff} (Surv.), a single straight rod or staff,
pointed and iron-shod at the bottom, for penetrating the
ground, and having a socket joint at the top, used,
instead of a tripod, for supporting a compass.

{Staff angle} (Arch.), a square rod of wood standing flush
with the wall on each of its sides, at the external angles
of plastering, to prevent their being damaged.

{The staff of life}, bread. "Bread is the staff of life."
--Swift.

{Staff tree} (Bot.), any plant of the genus {Celastrus},
mostly climbing shrubs of the northern hemisphere. The
American species ({Celastrus scandens}) is commonly called
{bittersweet}. See 2d {Bittersweet}, 3
(b) .

{To set up one's staff}, {To put up one's staff}, {To set
down one's staff} or {To put down one's staff}, to take up
one's residence; to lodge. [Obs.]
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Stave \Stave\, v. i.
To burst in pieces by striking against something; to dash
into fragments.
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Like a vessel of glass she stove and sank.
--Longfellow.
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Stave \Stave\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Staved} (st[=a]vd) or
{Stove} (st[=o]v); p. pr. & vb. n. {Staving}.] [From {Stave},
n., or {Staff}, n.]
1. To break in a stave or the staves of; to break a hole in;
to burst; -- often with in; as, to stave a cask; to stave
in a boat.
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2. To push, as with a staff; -- with off.
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The condition of a servant staves him off to a
distance. --South.
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3. To delay by force or craft; to drive away; -- usually with
off; as, to stave off the execution of a project.
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And answered with such craft as women use,
Guilty or guiltless, to stave off a chance
That breaks upon them perilously. --Tennyson.
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4. To suffer, or cause, to be lost by breaking the cask.
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All the wine in the city has been staved. --Sandys.
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5. To furnish with staves or rundles. --Knolles.
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6. To render impervious or solid by driving with a calking
iron; as, to stave lead, or the joints of pipes into which
lead has been run.
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{To stave and tail}, in bear baiting, (to stave) to interpose
with the staff, doubtless to stop the bear; (to tail) to
hold back the dog by the tail. --Nares.
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Stave \Stave\ (st[=a]v), n. [From {Staff}, and corresponding to
the pl. staves. See {Staff}.]
1. One of a number of narrow strips of wood, or narrow iron
plates, placed edge to edge to form the sides, covering,
or lining of a vessel or structure; esp., one of the
strips which form the sides of a cask, a pail, etc.
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2. One of the cylindrical bars of a lantern wheel; one of the
bars or rounds of a rack, a ladder, etc.
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3. A metrical portion; a stanza; a staff.
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Let us chant a passing stave
In honor of that hero brave. --Wordsworth.
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4. (Mus.) The five horizontal and parallel lines on and
between which musical notes are written or printed; the
staff[7]. [Obs.]
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{Stave jointer}, a machine for dressing the edges of staves.
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