Stave

/steɪv/ name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: 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, barrel, pail, etc.
  • Grammar: stave is listed as name, noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: staff, advocate, alpenstock, antistrophe.
  • Useful contrasts: allow, close, facilitate.
  • Usage evidence: The Fed is trying to stave off a run on the banks.

How to use "stave"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "stave" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "stave" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "stave" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "stave" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "stave" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "staff" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "stave", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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, barrel, pail, etc.

    "For the Cherubims ſpread foorth their wings ouer the place of the Arke, and the Cherubims couered the Arke and the ſtaues thereof, aboue."

  2. 2
    a crosspiece between the legs of a chair wordnet
  3. 3
    One of the bars or rounds of a rack, rungs of a ladder, etc; one of the cylindrical bars of a lantern wheel
  4. 4
    one of several thin slats of wood forming the sides of a barrel or bucket wordnet
  5. 5
    A metrical portion; a stanza; a staff.

    "Let us chaunt a passing stave / In honour of that hero brave."

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    (music) the system of five horizontal lines on which the musical notes are written wordnet
  2. 7
    The set of five horizontal and parallel lines on and between which musical notes are written or pointed; the staff.
  3. 8
    The initial consonant, consonant cluster, or vowel of a word which rhymes with another word with the same consonant or vowel in stave-rhyme. rare

    "Ley, in his work on the Metrical Forms of Hebrew Poetry, 1866, has taken too little notice of these frequently occurring alliteration staves; Lagarde communicated to me (8th Sept. 1846) his view of the stave-rhyme in the Book[…]"

  4. 9
    A sign, symbol or sigil, including rune or rune-like characters, used in Icelandic magic.
  5. 10
    A staff or walking stick.
Verb
  1. 1
    To fit or furnish with staves or rundles. transitive

    "vpon paine of death to bring it out and to ſtaue it"

  2. 2
    burst or force (a hole) into something wordnet
  3. 3
    To break in the staves of; to break a hole in; to burst. transitive, usually

    "to stave in a cask"

  4. 4
    furnish with staves wordnet
  5. 5
    To push, or keep off, as with a staff. transitive

    "The condition of a servant staves him off to a distance."

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    To delay by force or craft; to drive away. transitive, usually

    "We ate grass in an attempt to stave off our hunger."

  2. 7
    To burst in pieces by striking against something. archaic, intransitive, rare

    "But Donald would not hear of that proposal at all, assuring the Prince that it was impossible for them to return to the land again, because the squall was against them, and that if they should steer for the rock the boat would undoubtedly stave to pieces and all of them behoved to be drowned, for there was no [fol. 284.] possibility of saving any one life amongst them upon such a dangerous rock, where the sea was dashing with the utmost violence."

  3. 8
    To walk or move rapidly. dated, dialectal, intransitive

    "He turned and blundered out of the house, stumbling over a chair and trying a wrong door on the way, and went staving down the street as if afraid to look behind him."

  4. 9
    To suffer, or cause to be lost by breaking the cask.

    "All the […]wine in the city hath been staved."

  5. 10
    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"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Example

"The Fed is trying to stave off a run on the banks."

Common questions

What does "stave" mean?

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, barrel, pail, etc.

What is a synonym for "stave"?

Common synonyms include: staff, advocate, alpenstock, antistrophe, arm, athletic supporter.

How do you use "stave" in a sentence?

The Fed is trying to stave off a run on the banks.

How do you pronounce "stave"?

Pronounced /steɪv/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

Back-formation from staves, the plural of staff.

Etymology 2

Various origins: * Borrowed from North German Stave, an occupational surname for a judge or church official, from Middle Low German Staf (“staff”). * Borrowed from Norwegian Stave, a habitational surname from five farmsteads in the country. * Americanized form of Polish Staw, a Jewish Ashkenazi surname.

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