stave

[ steyv ]

/ steɪv /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stave ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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).

verb (used with object), staved or stove, stav·ing.

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.

verb (used without object), staved or stove, stav·ing.

to become staved in, as a boat; break in or up.

to move along rapidly.

Verb Phrases

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.

Nearby words

Origin of stave

1125–75; (noun) Middle English, back formation from staves; (v.) derivative of the noun

SYNONYMS FOR stave

4. See verse.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stave ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsun·staved, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stave

Four weeks after the injections, all 20 of the participants had developed the antibodies needed to stave off the infection.
The Race for the Ebola Vaccine|Abby Haglage|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
Will “loyalty cards” be enough to stave of a Republican massacre of House Democrats on Tuesday?
The Democrats’ Simple Midterm Weapon|Ben Jacobs|November 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

While pundits think Morse is relatively safe in his effort to stave off recall, Giron is facing a much tighter race.
A Battle Over Gun Control in Colorado|Ben Jacobs|September 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
They want to stave off our question until after the presidential campaign.
The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2)|Ida Husted Harper
Then, as Bedell sang a stave in a full rich voice, "Bye-oh, Baby!"
The Christmas Miracle|Charles Egbert Craddock (AKA Mary Noailles Murfree)
If you stave off the threatened prohibition you will earn it ten times over.
British Secret Service During the Great War|Nicholas Everitt
Then she went on quickly, to stave off any possible questionings as to her state of mind.
That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 3(of 3)|Frances Eleanor Trollope
Chester noticed with surprise that each man was armed, not only with a stave, but with a revolver.
The Chink in the Armour|Marie Belloc Lowndes

British Dictionary definitions for stave

stave

/ (steɪv) /

noun

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

Britishan individual group of five lines and four spaces used in staff notation
another word for staff 1 (def. 9)

verb staves, staving, staved or stove

(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)

Word Origin for stave

C14: back formation from staves, plural of staff 1

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 stave

stave

"piece of a barrel," 1750, back-formation from staves (late 14c.), plural of staff (cf. leaves/leaf), possibly from Old English, but not recorded there. The verb (to stave in, past tense stove) is 1590s, originally nautical, on notion of bashing in the staves of a cask and letting out the contents; stave off (1620s) is literally "keep off with a staff," as of dogs.