stave
one of the thin, narrow, shaped pieces of wood that form the sides of a cask, tub, or similar vessel.
a stick, rod, pole, or the like.
a rung of a ladder, chair, etc.
Prosody.
a verse or stanza of a poem or song.
the alliterating sound in a line of verse, as the w-sound in wind in the willows.
Music. staff1 (def. 10).
to break in a stave or staves of (a cask or barrel) so as to release the wine, liquor, or other contents.
to release (wine, liquor, etc.) by breaking the cask or barrel.
to break or crush (something) inward (often followed by in).
to break (a hole) in, especially in the hull of a boat.
to break to pieces; splinter; smash.
to furnish with a stave or staves.
to beat with a stave or staff.
to become staved in, as a boat; break in or up.
to move along rapidly.
stave off,
to put, ward, or keep off, as by force or evasion.
to prevent in time; forestall: He wasn't able to stave off bankruptcy.
Origin of stave
1synonym study For stave
Other words from stave
- un·staved, adjective
Words Nearby stave
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use stave in a sentence
This vacuum-insulated, spill-proof option, which keeps your drink chilled for hours without refrigeration and staves off condensation, comes in a rainbow of colors.
Best wine chiller: Keep your vino at the perfect temp every time | Irena Collaku | July 22, 2021 | Popular-ScienceFour weeks after the injections, all 20 of the participants had developed the antibodies needed to stave off the infection.
And how much do you need to sweat to stave off the disease that kills 500,000 people every year?
Running 15 Miles a Week Could Slash Alzheimer’s Risk | DailyBurn | December 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWill “loyalty cards” be enough to stave of a Republican massacre of House Democrats on Tuesday?
No surprise, therefore, that women are desperate to stave off the “visible signs” of aging.
Nicole Kidman Botox Insanity: Why All Women Lose Out When We Obsess Over Stars’ Faces | Emma Woolf | May 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Sure ASMR clips can put you to sleep and help stave off insomnia, maybe even get rid of that nasty headache you've had for days.
Groping around, I found a stout stick or stave, put my back to the wall, and beat about me blindly but with vigor.
Procure a good barrel with a bottom and cut off each alternate stave at both ends close up to the first hoop.
The Boy Mechanic, Book 2 | VariousMupugung (mupapugung) sa pulsu ang kindi, Candies will stave off hunger.
A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan | John U. WolffAnd sang a stave and drained a quart and called aloud for more.
The poor fellows were able to stave off starvation by visiting various free lunches during the day.
The Iron Puddler | James J. Davis
British Dictionary definitions for stave
/ (steɪv) /
any one of a number of long strips of wood joined together to form a barrel, bucket, boat hull, etc
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
any stick, staff, etc
a stanza or verse of a poem
music
British an individual group of five lines and four spaces used in staff notation
another word for staff 1 (def. 9)
(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
(tr usually foll by in) to burst or force (a hole in something)
(tr) to provide (a ladder, chair, etc) with a stave or staves
(tr) Scot to sprain (a finger, toe, etc)
Origin of stave
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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