stave
stave Lexical Profile
stave Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To avert, delay, or keep an undesirable threat, danger, or condition at bay (almost always used with 'off').
"The central bank lowered interest rates in an urgent effort to stave off an economic recession."
To break, smash, or crush inward by breaking the staves or outer planking of a vessel or cask (usually used with 'in').
"A submerged reef stove in the wooden hull of the schooner during the midnight gale."
To furnish or fit a barrel, cask, or ladder with wooden staves or rungs.
"The workshop apprentices spent the afternoon learning how to stave and hoop cider casks."
• noun
Any of the narrow, shaped vertical wooden strips placed side by side to form the walls of a barrel, cask, bucket, or boat hull.
"The cooper carefully bound the oak staves together with heavy iron hoops to seal the whiskey barrel."
British A set of five parallel horizontal lines and four spaces used in musical notation to indicate pitch.
"The composer sketched the opening melody in pencil across the top stave of the manuscript paper."
A strong wooden stick, pole, or staff, or a crosspiece or rung of a ladder or chair.
"The shepherd leaned heavily upon a stout ash stave as he guided the flock up the rocky hillside."
A verse, stanza, or metrical portion of a poem or song.
"Charles Dickens divided his novella 'A Christmas Carol' into five distinct staves rather than standard chapters."
Word Nuance & Usage
The verb has two competing past forms: 'staved' is usually preferred in the phrasal verb 'stave off' (meaning to avert or delay), whereas 'stove' is frequently used for the physical sense of smashing or breaking inward ('stove in the boat's hull').
• Rhymes for stave
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in Middle English as a back-formation from 'staves', the plural of 'staff' (from Old English 'stæf', meaning a stick, rod, or pole).