stave

[ steyv ]
See synonyms for: stavestove on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. one of the thin, narrow, shaped pieces of wood that form the sides of a cask, tub, or similar vessel.

  2. a stick, rod, pole, or the like.

  1. a rung of a ladder, chair, etc.

  2. Prosody.

    • a verse or stanza of a poem or song.

    • the alliterating sound in a line of verse, as the w-sound in wind in the willows.

verb (used with object),staved or stove, stav·ing.
  1. to break in a stave or staves of (a cask or barrel) so as to release the wine, liquor, or other contents.

  2. to release (wine, liquor, etc.) by breaking the cask or barrel.

  1. to break or crush (something) inward (often followed by in).

  2. to break (a hole) in, especially in the hull of a boat.

  3. to break to pieces; splinter; smash.

  4. to furnish with a stave or staves.

  5. to beat with a stave or staff.

verb (used without object),staved or stove, stav·ing.
  1. to become staved in, as a boat; break in or up.

  2. to move along rapidly.

Verb Phrases
  1. stave off,

    • to put, ward, or keep off, as by force or evasion.

    • to prevent in time; forestall: He wasn't able to stave off bankruptcy.

Origin of stave

1
First recorded in 1125–75; (noun) Middle English, back formation from staves; (verb) derivative of the noun

synonym study For stave

4. See verse.

Other words from stave

  • un·staved, adjective

Words Nearby stave

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use stave in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for stave

stave

/ (steɪv) /


noun
  1. any one of a number of long strips of wood joined together to form a barrel, bucket, boat hull, etc

  2. any of various bars, slats, or rods, usually of wood, such as a rung of a ladder or a crosspiece bracing the legs of a chair

  1. any stick, staff, etc

  2. a stanza or verse of a poem

  3. music

    • British an individual group of five lines and four spaces used in staff notation

    • another word for staff 1 (def. 9)

verbstaves, staving, staved or stove
  1. (often foll by in) to break or crush (the staves of a boat, barrel, etc) or (of the staves of a boat) to be broken or crushed

  2. (tr usually foll by in) to burst or force (a hole in something)

  1. (tr) to provide (a ladder, chair, etc) with a stave or staves

  2. (tr) Scot to sprain (a finger, toe, etc)

Origin of stave

1
C14: back formation from staves, plural of staff 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012