stave

American  

[steyv] / steɪv /

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.

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)

Related Words

See verse.

Other Word Forms

• unstaved adjective

Etymology

Origin of stave

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

Example Sentences

Starmer could also try to stave this off by reshuffling his cabinet—for instance, appointing a new more left-wing chancellor, analysts say.

From The Wall Street Journal

Kane and his men traded needles, barrel staves, and buttons for four sled dogs and fresh walrus meat.

From Literature

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

The all-rounder has stood up and proved himself the man for a crisis, delivering match-winning late "death" overs against associate nations Nepal and Italy to stave off embarrassing defeats.

From Barron's

Crops needed to stave off starvation have been decimated.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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