stanch1
[stawnch, stanch, stahnch]
- to stop the flow of (a liquid, especially blood).
- to stop the flow of blood or other liquid from (a wound, leak, etc.).
- Archaic. to check, allay, or extinguish.
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- to stop flowing, as blood; be stanched.
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- Also called flash-lock, navigation weir. a lock that, after being partially emptied, is opened suddenly to send a boat over a shallow place with a rush of water.
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Also staunch.
Origin of stanch1
1275–1325; Middle English stanchen, staunchen (v.) < Old French estanchier to close, stop, slake (thirst) < Vulgar Latin *stanticāre, equivalent to Latin stant- (stem of stāns, present participle of stāre to stand) + -icāre causative suffix
stanch2
[stawnch, stahnch, stanch]
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for stanch
Contemporary Examples
A neighbor tried in vain to stanch the bleeding with a towel.
In a swift move to stanch the controversy, Governor Rockefeller demanded the piece be removed.
But Clapper has also failed fundamentally to stanch the leakage of secrets so emblematic of his tenure atop the community.
The Obama administration began 2009 with an aggressive stimulus to stanch the rapid deterioration of the economy.
Historical Examples
She was a stanch five-year-old, and she had roamed the mountains about Pop's place at will.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
The Forward will be a stanch ship and she will carry good engines.
After all, he was a stanch friend, and he braved no common dangers in his pursuit.
Tony ButlerCharles James Lever
She reserved articles she presented to her stanch friend, Kate O'Brien.
The Masked BridalMrs. Georgie Sheldon
Meanwhile we laid him on his bed, and I did what I could to stanch the bleeding and ease his suffering.
KilgormanTalbot Baines Reed
stanch
staunch (stɔːntʃ)
- to stem the flow of (a liquid, esp blood) or (of a liquid) to stop flowing
- to prevent the flow of a liquid, esp blood, from (a hole, wound, etc)
- an archaic word for assuage
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- a primitive form of lock in which boats are carried over shallow parts of a river in a rush of water released by the lock
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French estanchier, from Vulgar Latin stanticāre (unattested) to cause to stand, from Latin stāre to stand, halt
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
Word Origin and History for stanch
v.
"to stop the flow of" (especially of blood), c.1300, from Old French estanchier "cause to cease flowing, stop, hinder," from Vulgar Latin *stancare, perhaps contracted from *stagnicare, from Latin stagnum "pond, pool" (see stagnate).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper