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

Inside the secretive lab shaping America’s retail landscape: At a Florida lab few have ever seen, a team of researchers is trying to stave off a purported epidemic of shoplifting.

From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026

“We are in love with our institution,” said Atul Dev, a retired army officer who is part of a group leading efforts to stave off eviction in the courts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Without active efforts to lower players’ core temperatures, pausing game play may not be enough to effectively stave off heat injury, he wrote.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

The proposals are part of a desperate, eleventh-hour bid to stave off economic collapse in the face of unprecedented US pressure.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

At least that’s what I kept telling myself, in a vain attempt to stave off the epic loneliness I now felt.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

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

It means not all the cuts will go ahead and it staves off effective bankruptcy, but it also saddles Havering with high debt repayments for the next 20 years.

From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2024

Already, apart from many younger lads, more than a hundred sturdy hobbits were assembled with axes, and heavy hammers, and long knives, and stout staves; and a few had hunting-bows.

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

With fertility falling across Europe over the past decade, they argue the country's policies may have staved off even greater decline.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 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 raced out to a 3-0 series lead against the Rockets, who staved off elimination with a blowout win in Game 4.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026

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

“Well, Master Kilvin, according to the students, I staved it in with a single blow from my mighty hand.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

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

The Spaniard also had to dig deep to level at 1-1, staving off three break points himself.

From Barron's ● Nov. 11, 2025

The Briton showed resilience in the early stages by staving off five break points in her opening service game.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 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

Working in food, my office is quite literally the kitchen: I write at a repurposed steel prep table, with my laptop on top and Dutch ovens stored below, that sits directly beside the stove.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 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

The “Charlie’s Angels” star proceeded to pose next to the petite kitchen, which comes complete with a stove and sink.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

Habiba's day starts at around 4:00 am, when she gets up to pray before preparing breakfast with her daughters on a wood-fired stove.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

"Of course, Husband," Mrs. Krupnik said, and she took his bowl to the stove where the pot of chowder was.

From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry

Related Words

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