cross-staff

[ kraws-staf, -stahf, kros- ]

/ ˈkrɔsˌstæf, -ˌstɑf, ˈkrɒs- /

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noun, plural cross-staffs, cross-staves.Astronomy.

an instrument for measuring the angle of elevation of heavenly bodies, consisting of a calibrated staff with another shorter staff perpendicular to and sliding on it.

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Also called forestaff, Jacob's staff.

Origin of cross-staff

1400–50, for an earlier sense; late Middle English

Words nearby cross-staff

cross section, cross-sell, cross-slide, cross someone's palm with silver, cross someone's path, cross-staff, cross-sterile, cross-stitch, cross-stratification, cross street, cross-string

How to use cross-staff in a sentence

They took cover inside a print works to the north east of Paris, where they held a member of staff as a hostage.
France Kills Charlie Hebdo Murderers|Nico Hines|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Although the blood-spattered offices will be off-limits, staff have vowed to continue producing the magazine.
France Mourns—and Hunts|Nico Hines, Christopher Dickey|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
You get these high-profile people that go into prison, and the staff abuse their authority.
How a ‘Real Housewife’ Survives Prison: ‘I Don’t See [Teresa Giudice] Having a Cakewalk Here’|Michael Howard|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The Via Dolorosa ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and is marked by nine stations of the cross.
Oops! Jesus’ Last Steps Are in the Wrong Place|Candida Moss|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST

If they were meaningful, we might have realized it before—surely one of these kids wore a cross, or a yarmulke, or a hijab?
Harry Potter and the Torah of Terror|Candida Moss, Joel Baden|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In cross-section the burrows varied from round (three inches in diameter) to oval (three inches high and four inches wide).
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula|Erwin E. Klaas
With each division, in addition to the divisional staff, there were officers detached from the headquarters staff.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
As Felipe approached, the old man's face beamed with pleasure, and he came forward totteringly, leaning on a staff in each hand.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
By the end of the campaign of 1796 he had proved that he was as great a chief of the staff as Bonaparte was a great commander.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
I cannot believe that God would think it necessary to come on earth as a man, and die on the Cross.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford