英文字典中文字典Word104.com

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.
[1913 Webster]

And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of
the altar to bear it withal. --Ex. xxxviii.
7.
[1913 Webster]

With forks and staves the felon to pursue. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]

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.
[1913 Webster]

The boy was the very staff of my age. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]

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.
[1913 Webster]

3. A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a
badge of office; as, a constable's staff.
[1913 Webster]

Methought this staff, mine office badge in court,
Was broke in twain. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]

All his officers brake their staves; but at their
return new staves were delivered unto them.
--Hayward.
[1913 Webster]

4. A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.
[1913 Webster]

5. The round of a ladder. [R.]
[1913 Webster]

I ascended at one [ladder] of six hundred and
thirty-nine staves. --Dr. J.
Campbell (E.
Brown's
Travels).
[1913 Webster]

6. A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded,
the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.
[1913 Webster]

Cowley found out that no kind of staff is proper for
an heroic poem, as being all too lyrical. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]

7. (Mus.) The five lines and the spaces on which music is
written; -- formerly called {stave}.
[1913 Webster]

8. (Mech.) An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.
[1913 Webster]

9. (Surg.) The grooved director for the gorget, or knife,
used in cutting for stone in the bladder.
[1913 Webster]

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}.
[1913 Webster]

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.
[1913 Webster PJC]

{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.]
[1913 Webster]


Staff \Staff\ (st[.a]f), n. [G. staffiren to fill or fit out,
adorn, fr. D. stoffeeren, OF. estoffer, F. ['e]toffer, fr.
OF. estoffe stuff, F. ['e]toffe. See {Stuff}, n.] (Arch.)
Plaster combined with fibrous and other materials so as to be
suitable for sculpture in relief or in the round, or for
forming flat plates or boards of considerable size which can
be nailed to framework to make the exterior of a larger
structure, forming joints which may afterward be repaired and
concealed with fresh plaster.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]