Adjacent Words

Stave definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STAVE, n. [from staff. It has the sound of a, as in save.]
1. A thin narrow piece of timber, of which casks are made. Staves make a considerable articles of export from New England to the West Indies.
2. A staff; a metrical portion; a part of a psalm appointed to be sung in churches.
3. In music, the five horizontal and parallel lines on which the notes of tunes are written or printed; the staff, as it is now more generally written.
To stave and tail, to part dogs by interposing a staff and by pulling the tail.
STAVE, v.t. pret. stove or staved; pp. id.
1. To break a hole in; to break; to burst; primarily, to thrust through with a staff; as, to stave a cask.
2. To push as with a staff; with off.
The condition of a servant staves him off to a distance.
3. To delay; as, to stave off the execution of a project.
4. To pour out; to suffer to be lost by breaking the cask.
All the wine in the city has been staved.
5. To furnish with staves or rundles. [Not in use.]
STAVE, v.i. To fight with staves. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (music) the system of five horizontal lines on which the musical notes are written [syn: staff, stave]
2: one of several thin slats of wood forming the sides of a barrel or bucket [syn: stave, lag]
3: a crosspiece between the legs of a chair [syn: rung, round, stave] v
1: furnish with staves; "stave a ladder"
2: burst or force (a hole) into something [syn: stave, stave in]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, back-formation from staves, plural of staf staff Date: 13th century 1. staff I,1 2. any of the narrow strips of wood or narrow iron plates placed edge to edge to form the sides, covering, or lining of a vessel (as a barrel) or structure 3. stanza 4. staff I,3 II. verb (staved or stove; staving) Date: circa 1595 transitive verb 1. to break in the staves of (a cask) 2. to smash a hole in <stove in the boat>; also to crush or break inward <staved in several ribs> 3. to drive or thrust away intransitive verb 1. archaic to become stove in — used of a boat or ship 2. to walk or move rapidly

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 each of the curved pieces of wood forming the sides of a cask, pail, etc. 2 = STAFF(1) n. 3. 3 a stanza or verse. 4 the rung of a ladder. --v.tr. (past and past part. stove or staved) 1 break a hole in. 2 crush or knock out of shape. 3 fit or furnish (a cask etc.) with staves. Phrases and idioms: stave in crush by forcing inwards. stave off avert or defer (danger or misfortune). stave rhyme alliteration, esp. in old Germanic poetry. Etymology: ME, back-form. f. staves, pl. of STAFF(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stave Stave, n. [From Staff, and corresponding to the pl. staves. See Staff.] 1. One of a number of narrow strips of wood, or narrow iron plates, placed edge to edge to form the sides, covering, or lining of a vessel or structure; esp., one of the strips which form the sides of a cask, a pail, etc. 2. One of the cylindrical bars of a lantern wheel; one of the bars or rounds of a rack, a ladder, etc. 3. A metrical portion; a stanza; a staff. Let us chant a passing stave In honor of that hero brave. --Wordsworth. 4. (Mus.) The five horizontal and parallel lines on and between which musical notes are written or pointed; the staff. [Obs.] Stave jointer, a machine for dressing the edges of staves.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stave Stave, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stavedor Stove; p. pr. & vb. n. Staving.] [From Stave, n., or Staff, n.] 1. To break in a stave or the staves of; to break a hole in; to burst; -- often with in; as, to stave a cask; to stave in a boat. 2. To push, as with a staff; -- with off. The condition of a servant staves him off to a distance. --South. 3. To delay by force or craft; to drive away; -- usually with off; as, to stave off the execution of a project. And answered with such craft as women use, Guilty or guilties, to stave off a chance That breaks upon them perilously. --Tennyson. 4. To suffer, or cause, to be lost by breaking the cask. All the wine in the city has been staved. --Sandys. 5. To furnish with staves or rundles. --Knolles. 6. To render impervious or solid by driving with a calking iron; as, to stave lead, or the joints of pipes into which lead has been run. To stave and tail, in bear baiting, (to stave) to interpose with the staff, doubtless to stop the bear; (to tail) to hold back the dog by the tail. --Nares.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stave Stave, v. i. To burst in pieces by striking against something; to dash into fragments. Like a vessel of glass she stove and sank. --Longfellow.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(staves, staving, staved) 1. A stave is a strong stick, especially one that is used as a weapon. Many of the men had armed themselves with staves and pieces of iron. = staff N-COUNT 2. A stave is the five lines that music is written on. (mainly BRIT; in AM, use staff) N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Stanza, staff. II. v. a. Burst, break a hole in, stave in.

Moby Thesaurus

Malacca cane, Spenserian stanza, advocate, alpenstock, antistrophe, arm, athletic supporter, back, backbone, backing, bandeau, bar, bar line, barrel, baton, beam, bearer, billet, board, boarding, book, bra, brace, bracer, bracket, brassiere, bucket, bullet, burden, buttress, cane, canto, carrier, cervix, chorus, clapboard, cord, cordwood, corset, couplet, crook, crosier, cross, cross-staff, crutch, crutch-stick, deal, degree, distich, doorstep, driftwood, envoi, epode, firewood, footrest, footstep, foundation garment, fulcrum, girdle, guy, guywire, handstaff, hardwood, haste, hasten, heptastich, hexastich, highball, hotfoot, hustle, jock, jockstrap, lath, lathing, lathwork, ledger line, line, lituus, log, lumber, mainstay, maintainer, mast, measure, monostich, neck, octastich, octave, octet, ottava rima, panelboard, paneling, panelwork, pastoral staff, paterissa, pentastich, plank, planking, plyboard, plywood, pole, post, prop, puncheon, quarterstaff, quatrain, refrain, reinforce, reinforcement, reinforcer, rest, resting place, rhyme royal, rigging, riser, round, rundle, rung, scale, septet, sestet, sextet, shake, sheathing, sheathing board, sheeting, shillelagh, shingle, shoulder, shroud, sideboard, siding, slab, slat, softwood, space, spine, splat, spoke, sprit, staff, stair, standing rigging, stanza, stay, step, step stool, stepping-stone, stick, stick of wood, stiffener, stovewood, strain, strengthener, string, strophe, support, supporter, sustainer, swagger stick, swanking stick, syllable, tercet, terza rima, tetrastich, three-by-four, timber, timbering, timberwork, tread, triplet, tristich, two-by-four, upholder, verse, walking stick, weatherboard, wood