Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Stave

Stave

(stāv)
,
Noun.
[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 printed; the staff{7}.
[Obs.]
Stave jointer
,
a machine for dressing the edges of staves.

Stave

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Staved
(stāvd)
or
Stove
(stōv)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Staving
.]
[From
Stave
,
Noun.
, or
Staff
,
Noun.
]
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 guiltless, 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.

Stave

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

Webster 1828 Edition

Stave

STAVE

,
Noun.
[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

,
Verb.
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

,
Verb.
I.
To fight with staves. [Not in use.]

Definition 2024

stave

stave

English

Noun

stave ‎(plural staves)

  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; especially, one of the strips which form the sides of a cask, a pail, etc.
  2. One of the bars or rounds of a rack, rungs of a ladder, etc; one of the cylindrical bars of a lantern wheel
  3. (poetry) A metrical portion; a stanza; a staff.
    • Wordsworth
      Let us chant a passing stave / In honour of that hero brave.
  4. (music) The five horizontal and parallel lines on and between which musical notes are written or pointed; the staff.
  5. A staff or walking stick.

Translations

Verb

stave ‎(third-person singular simple present staves, present participle staving, simple past and past participle stove or staved)

  1. (transitive) To break in the staves of; to break a hole in; to burst. Often with in.
    to stave in a cask
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 22
      Be careful in the hunt, ye mates. Don’t stave the boats needlessly, ye harpooneers; good white cedar plank is raised full three per cent within the year.
    • 1914, Edgar Rice Burrows, The Mucker, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2009:
      …for the jagged butt of the fallen mast was dashing against the ship's side with such vicious blows that it seemed but a matter of seconds ere it would stave a hole in her.
  2. (transitive) To push, as with a staff. With off.
    • South
      The condition of a servant staves him off to a distance.
  3. (transitive) To delay by force or craft; to drive away. Often with off.
    to stave off the execution of a project
    • Tennyson
      And answered with such craft as women use, / Guilty or guilties, to stave off a chance / That breaks upon them perilously.
  4. (intransitive) To burst in pieces by striking against something.
  5. (intransitive) To walk or move rapidly.
  6. To suffer, or cause to be lost by breaking the cask.
    • Sandys
      All the wine in the city has been staved.
  7. To furnish with staves or rundles.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knolles to this entry?)
  8. To render impervious or solid by driving with a calking iron.
    to stave lead, or the joints of pipes into which lead has been run

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse stafa

Verb

stave ‎(imperative stav, present tense staver, simple past and past participle stava or stavet, present participle stavende)

  1. to spell (words)

Derived terms

References

Etymology

Back-formation from staves, the plural of staff.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: stāv, IPA(key): /steɪv/
  • Rhymes: -eɪv

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