stave

American  

[steyv] / steɪv /

noun

• staves
  plural

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.

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

4. Prosody.

   1. a verse or stanza of a poem or song.

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

5. Music. staff.

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verb (used with object)

staved, stove, staving

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.

3. to break or crush (something) inward (often followed byin ).

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

5. to break to pieces; splinter; smash.

6. to furnish with a stave or staves.

7. to beat with a stave or staff.

verb (used without object)

staved, stove, staving

1. to become staved in, as a boat; break in or up.

2. to move along rapidly.

verb phrase

1. stave off

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

   2. to prevent in time; forestall.

      He wasn't able to stave off bankruptcy.

stave British  

/ 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

3. any stick, staff, etc

4. a stanza or verse of a poem

5. music

   1. an individual group of five lines and four spaces used in staff notation

   2. another word for staff 1

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verb

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. to burst or force (a hole in something)

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

4. (tr) to sprain (a finger, toe, etc)

Synonym Usage

See verse.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unstaved
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• staves
  plural

Etymology

Origin of stave

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

Explanation

A stave is the crosspiece between the legs of a chair or a wooden slat forming the side of a barrel. In music, it's the five lines you write notes on. Stave comes from the word staff, as in a walking stick. You're most likely to encounter the word stave if you're learning woodworking. If someone "staves in" a door, they've broken a hole in it. You also might hear the idiom "stave off," which means to hold off for a short time.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stave staves staved staving stove

So they ran routes in the frontyard or shot hoops in the driveway or rode bikes in the neighborhood, anything to stave off the inevitable draw of mindless videos on YouTube.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

But they did have one potentially innovative and surprising, if disconcerting, solution to our national public health information crisis: A.I. has the potential to help stave off a conspiratorial catastrophe during the next pandemic.

From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026

Meanwhile, supporters of Greenock Morton, the local football team, have set up a fighting fund to try to stave off financial collapse at the club.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Without those friendships, he pours himself into his crime-fighting work to stave off his loneliness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

When I wake up again at the first light of the morning, she's back in Hannah's bed, sleeping with her arm covering her eyes as if she could stave off the day.

From "We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour

For many Americans taking a weight-loss drug, Thanksgiving presents a conundrum: Take the weekly dose that staves off hunger, or push it off so they can feast?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025

"In our model, the barrel staves spread out in steps," he says, "each step representing a new limiting factor that becomes active as the cell grows faster."

From Science Daily ● Nov. 11, 2025

France's Emmanuel Macron was on Friday due to pick a head of government tasked with pulling the country out of a political gridlock, in a move that staves off fresh elections for now.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2025

However, that only staves off the pressure for a moment as the kick fails to make touch and Ireland are on the front foot again.

From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2024

Through the wooden staves he heard men shouting, and once a horse whickered nearby.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson at least staved off humiliation with a battling stand of 75, ended when Atkinson was out just before lunch.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

Powell’s calm but forceful defense of Fed independence likely staved off larger attacks on the institution and won him admiration and awards, like the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award.

From MarketWatch ● May 10, 2026

They wouldn’t get any closer, on account of USC’s star freshman, who personally staved off any serious threat of a Badger comeback.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026

Indirectly, that snub also staved off the ACC’s nightmare scenario.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 7, 2025

I bathed her feet in warm water and thus staved off the “froch” bite.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

For every trending supplement, there is an unprocessed, wholefood alternative – from the anti-inflammatory benefits of turmeric, staving off cramp with pickle juice or consumption of high-nitrate foods like beetroot before competition.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

The company has also reportedly been in discussions about potential concessions in the hope of satisfying Bonta’s concerns and staving off a lawsuit.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026

After staving off a weekend collapse, McIlroy had dodged Scheffler, himself a two-time champion, and became only the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters titles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026

A $7 billion IMF bailout helped unlock further loans from friendly nations, staving off collapse.

From Barron's ● Nov. 20, 2025

It was like I’d been staving it all off for survival’s sake, and now that things looked better, I allowed myself to be sick.

From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer

During this year’s “crafting season,” he bought a 12-foot motorboat for $1,000 and transformed it by adding his own roof and a working wood stove.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

He and his roommates would use up to six stove burners at a time to prepare meals together, he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026

The day was in the low 70s, and a breeze was coming through our kitchen window; I decided I would not mind standing at the stove long enough to coax the squash toward sweet collapse.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

On 17 July, part of the Rustic Stomp festival near Wareham, Dorset, was destroyed by a fire that started when a camping stove set fire to a tent.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

The backflare from the door-less opening on the stove had singed Glenn and me with a sudden searing.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Related Words

• anticipate
• avert
• avoid
• counteract
• foil
• forestall
• halt
• preclude
• put an end to
• rule out
• thwart