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

Those discussions on how to stave off automatic benefit cuts accelerated this summer, but concrete action remains elusive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 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

Doctors recommend that GLP-1 users increase their protein intake to stave off the muscle loss that comes with rapid calorie cutting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

United officials were quick to make it known the number nine shirt Rashford wore in Poland was not permanent, to stave off any complaints from those tempted to buy one.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

He tries to stave off the inevitable for as long as he can.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

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

And then one would sing amid the gloom some staves of the Lay of Nimrodel, or other songs of the Vale of Anduin out of vanished years.

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

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

Sánchez staved off the departure with a call to the governor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2025

Nevertheless, Bush’s protest at least temporarily staved off hundreds of thousands of Americans from being removed from their homes.

From Slate ● Oct. 23, 2025

Appoint Kevin Muscat now please and don't consider the other mediocre "did well from limited resources or staved off relegation" candidates please.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2025

Jacob would be with us out in the fields and Ashley staved at home to cook for the harvest crew.

From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson

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

Your book is full of practical strategies for staving off digital exhaustion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Nov. 20, 2025

Besides staving off economic collapse, the dams are ideologically beguiling to the family that runs the country.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

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

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

In the early 1970s, Stephen Hawking and other researchers discovered surprising connections between the laws of thermodynamics, which describe familiar processes such as heating water on a stove, and the behavior of black holes.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026

Every day by 9 a.m., she and her husband arrive on a cycle rickshaw from home with a gas stove and other paraphernalia and work until around 5 p.m.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

I ran them the last two miles to where the stove was and unhooked their tugs so they could rest while I had coffee.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

Related Words

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