| 释义 |
▪ I. staff, n.1|stɑːf, -æ-|
Pl. staves |steɪvz|, staffs |stɑːfs, -æ-|. Forms: 1 stæb, (stab-, steb-), 1–2 stef, 1–4 stæf, 1–6 staf, 3 oblique stæve, steave, 3–4 oblique stave, 4–7 stafe, 4–8, (9 arch.) staffe, 5–6 Sc. staif, 6 stayffe, Sc. stalf, (stafte), 4–7 gen. sing. staves, 3– staff; pl. 1 stafas, 2 stafen, 2–5 stafes, 3 staven, Ormin stafess, 4 stafs, steves, (stavenes), 4–5 stafis, stawis, 4–6 stavis, -ys, 5–6 staffes, 6 stavez, Sc. staiffis, sta(l)ffis, 3–9 staves, 8– staffs.
[Com. Teut.: OE. stæf masc. corresponds to OFris. stef, OS. -staf (MLG., MDu., Du. staf), OHG., MHG. stap, genit. stabes (mod.G. stab). ON. staf-r (Sw. staf, Da. stav):—OTeut. *staƀo-z; a variant type *staƀi- appears in Goth. *staf-s (in dat. pl. stabim) rendering στοιχεῖον element; a third type, possibly ancient, is represented by early mod.Du. stave, now staaf fem., bar. Other probable derivatives from the Teut. *staƀ- (? to be firm or fixed) are Da. stabbe (Icel. stabbi) stab n.1; ON. stef neut. (:—*staƀjon-) set or recurring time, refrain, stefja (:—*staƀjon-) to prevent, stefna fem. appointed time (:—*staƀnjōn-), steven n.; OHG. stabên (MHG. staben) to become stiff. The pre-Teut. type might be either *stapo- (? f. *stā̆- to stand, with suffix of causative import as in Sk. sthāpāyati makes to stand), or *stabho-.
The plural form staves is now somewhat archaic, exc. in certain senses in which a sing. form stave has been developed from it; but it is still preferred in those senses that are confined to literary use.]
I.
1. a. A stick carried in the hand as an aid in walking or climbing. Now chiefly literary (e.g. in reference to ‘pilgrims’).
c725Corpus Gloss. 1441 Olastrum: stæb. c888ælfred Boeth. xxxvi. §6 Ða cild ridað on hiora stafum. c897― Gregory's Past. C. xvii. 126 Mid ᵹierde mon bið beswungen, and mid stæfe he bið awreðed. c1205Lay. 30754 Þene staf he nom an honde and ferde ouer þan londe. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3149 Stondende, and staf on hond. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 36 Þe gome þat goth with o staf, he semeth in gretter hele þan he þat goth with two staues to syȝte of vs alle. a1533Ld. Berners Huon cxlvi. 545 Huon..aparelyd hymselfe lyke a pylgryme, with a stafe, and a bage abought his necke. c1539in Aungier Syon (1840) 131 They bare small staves in their honds to lepe over the watery playshes. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 30 An old old man..That on a staffe his feeble steps did frame. 1666Pepys Diary 20 July, He did present me with a varnished staffe, very fine and light to walk with. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 139 With their staffs in their hands. 1803J. Porter Thaddeus i, When we possessed no other property than the staffs which we hold in our hands. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xiv. 95, I..dug my staff deeply into the snow. 1857J. G. Holland Bay Path vi. 78 Two or three pedestrians..swinging their sturdy staves. 1907Verney Mem. I. 50 A curious pilgrim's staff.
b. jocularly as a type of thinness or leanness.
c1386Chaucer Prol. 592 Ful longe were his legges and ful lene, Ylyk a staf, ther was no calf ysene. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. i. 71 If I were saw'de into Quantities, I should make foure dozen of such bearded Hermites staues, as Master Shallow.
†c. Applied to a crutch. Obs.
1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 432/2 He coude not goo ne stande wythoute he had two crutches or staues under hys armes.
†d. A stick or rod, esp. one with a hooked end, used for tending sheep; a shepherd's crook. Obs.
For shepherd's staff used as a plant-name, after L. virga pastoris, see shepherd n. 8 d.
c1475Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 814 Hoc pedum, a scheperdes stafe. 1530Palsgr. 266/2 Schepherdes staffe, hovlette. 1538Elyot Dict., Agolum, a staffe to dryue cattell with. 1577Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. 141 They must be well ware in the driuing of them..that they guide them with theyr voyce, and shaking of theyr staffe.
e. A rod or wand used as an instrument of magic or divination.
1610Shakes. Temp. v. 54 I'le breake my staffe. 1656S. Holland Don Zara 67 Her Rod, Staff, and other implements of Sorcery stood by her on a Table of Abstersive Ebony. 1770Langhorne Plutarch, Camillus (Rtldg.) 109/2 They discovered under a great heap of ashes the augural staff of Romulus. This staff is crooked at one end, and called lituus. 1836Thirlwall Greece xiv. II. 197 Diviners..who drew their knowledge of the future from the position of staves thrown on the ground.
f. by staff and baton: a formula of Scots Law, used when the vassal resigns his feu into the hands of his superior. (Cf. rod n.1 1 c.)
1499Reg. Privy Seal Scot. I. 43/2 Resignit be his procuratouris in our soverane lordis handis..be staf and bastoun. 1596in T. Morris Provosts of Methven (1875) 86 Thair in my name..be staff and bastoun, as vse is, to resigne..in our said Souerane lordis handis..my mansioun. 1762in Nairne Peerage Evid. (1874) 92 To resign surrender overgive and deliver duely and lawfully by staff and baton as use is all and haill the foresaids parts and portions of his baronies.
2. A stick, pole or club used as a weapon. (Cf. quarterstaff.)
The constable's staff (quot. 1583, etc.) is at once a weapon and a badge of office: see sense 7 and tipstaff 1.
c1000ælfric Gram. ix. (Z.) 55 Fustis saᵹol oððe stæf. c1250Owl & Night. 1167 Her-uore hit is þat me þe shuneþ, & þe to-torueþ & to-buneþ Mid staue & stone & turf & clute. c1290St. Lawrence 114 in S. Eng. Leg. 343 He het heom with grete staues leggen on him to grounde. a1300Cursor M. 7528 His arms fra him did he suing, And tok bot a staf and a sling. 1340Ayenb. 156 Þe sergons..nome steues and byete þane asse riȝt to þe uolle. 1382Wyclif Mark xiv. 48 As to a thef ȝe han gon out with swerdis and staues, for to take me. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1652 Yemen on foote and communes many oon With shorte staues. 1421Cov. Leet Bk. 28 That no bocher..ber no billys, ne gysarnez, ne no grett stauys within the Cite... Saue leefull be hit to euery bocher and othur man..comyng to market to dryve hur beestis with smale stavys and non othur. 1470–85Malory Arthur i. ix. 47 Thenne the comyns of Carlyon aroos with clubbis and stauys and slewe many knyghtes. 1583Nottingham Rec. IV. 201, xxx. Cunstable stavez at xvd. a pece. 1663Killigrew Parson's Wedd. iv. i, Constables staff, and Lanthorn. 1671Milton Samson 1123, I only with an Oak'n staff will meet thee. 1742Col. Rec. Pennsylv. IV. 621 The Constables interposing with their Staves for some time kept off the Rioters. 1778Learning at a Loss I. 103 In his Hand [was] a very inimical Oak staff of at least two Inches diameter. 1821Combe Syntax, Wife i. (1869) 267 But warrants, staves and mastiffs wait To guard the approaches to his gate. 1847Mrs. A. Kerr tr. Ranke's Hist. Servia 32 We find them armed only with long staves.
fig.1541Crome in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) III. xi. 104 But, alack! this bold Beggar's Staf hath this Beggar of Rome left here behind him. Which Staf beateth both the Bodies and Souls of Men. 1577F. de Lisle's Legendarie G vij, She looked to finde in him a new staffe wherewith to suppresse the Guisians.
3. a. The shaft of a spear or lance. arch. †b. A spear, lance, or similar armed weapon. to break a staff, to tilt or contend with (an antagonist). Obs.
c1205Lay. 8155 Euelin..mid þan stæue to-draf, and smat Herigal a þon ribben þat þe stæf to-bræc amidden. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 14806 Eyþer þorow pleyn bataille in feld, Or wyþ chaumpion staf & scheld. c1400Brut ccxxiii. 276 He fonde in a chambre aboue v C of grete stafes [Caxton staues] of fyne oke, with longe pikes of yren and of stele. 1471Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 157 Ther was..many an arowe shotte and many a staffe and guysarme broken. 1513Douglas æneis viii. xi. 45 Twa javilling speris, or than gyssarn stavis. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 6 There wer broken many staues and great praise geuen to the twoo straungers. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 120 Their armed Staues in charge, their Beauers downe. 1599,1624[see taint v. A. 5 b]. 1600Holland Livy viii. vii. 285 Wilt thou then..break a staffe with me in the meane time. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. iii. 48 Come, put mine Armour on: giue me my Staffe. 1611Bible 1 Sam. xvii. 7 The staffe of his speare was like a weauers beame. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Manche, Le manche d'un espieu, the staffe of a Bore⁓speare. 1868Morris Earthly Par., Man born to be King 1226 Who bore armed staves and coats of fence.
†c. with defining word, indicating some kind of spear or javelin, as horseman's staff, hunter's staff, hunting staff, Jedburgh (Jedworth, Jedwood etc.) staff. Obs.
1515–6Exchequer Rolls Scot. XIV. 141 Halbertis, Leith axis, et Jedworth stauis [printed stanis]. 1538Elyot Dict., Venabulum, a huntynge staffe. a1547Surrey æneid iv. 167 The hunting staues with their brod heads of steele. 1560Whitehorn Ord. Souldiours xl. 45 Howe to make certayn fyreworke to tye at the poinctes of pykes or horsemenstaues. 1561in Maitland Club Misc. III. 278 And for ye sam caws of set purpos ye person had Jedwod staiffis in ye qweyr. 1567Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 578 Stryking and schuting of culveringis and Jedburgh staffis. 1579–80North Plutarch, Pelopidas (1595) 309 Taking houndes with them, and hunters staues in their handes. 1611Cotgr., Espieu, a Boare-speare; a hunting staffe, or Iauelin. a1625Fletcher Hum. Lieut. i. 1, And on Our Horsemans Staves, Death lookes as grimly as on your keene-edgd Swords. 1680Lyon Office Register of Arms (MS.), A kynde of Launce (called the Jedburgh staff). 1708Motteux Rabelais v. ix. (1737) 35 Troutstaves,..and Hunting Staffs.
†d. Judas staff [cf. Mark xiv. 43] = Judas 2.
1488in Archæologia XLV. 119 Ther bith vi Judas Staves for torches peynted.
4. a. fig. Something which serves as a support or stay.
1390Gower Conf. II. 145 Therof the Jelous takth non hiede, Bot as a man to love unkinde, He cast his staf, as doth the blinde, And fint defaulte where is non. a1489Caxton Blanchardyn 213 And is she gon, the comfort of my youth, the staffe of my age. a1591H. Smith Serm. (1637) 496 Take heed is a good staffe to stay upon. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. ii. ii. 70 The boy was the verie staffe of my age, my verie prop. 1606― Ant. & Cl. iii. xiii. 68 It much would please him, That of his Fortunes you should make a staffe To leane vpon. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xiv. 415 Having lost his own legs, he relyes on the staff of his kinred. 1721De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 256 They were the staff of the party. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 223 They had one son, who had grown up to be the staff and pride of their age. 1830Scott Introd. Last Minstrel ⁋13, I determined that literature should be my staff, but not my crutch. 1876Hardy Ethelberta xiii, Long before he adopted music as the staff of his pilgrimage.
b. In the Biblical phr. to break the staff of bread (literally from Heb. maṭṭēh ˈleχem, Vulg. baculum panis), to diminish or cut off the supply of food.
1382,1388Wyclif Lev. xxvi. 26. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Lev. xxvi. 26. Ps. cv. 16. Ezek. iv. 16. [And so 1611]. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. cv. iv, Scarse had he spoken, When famine came, the staff of bread was broken. 1596Barlow Three Serm. i. 121 God in his lawe threatneth that he will breake the staffe of bread, that is, bread shall not nourish them that eate it.
c. Hence the staff of life = bread (or similar staple food).
1638Penkethman Artach. A j b, Bread is worth all, being the Staffe of life. 1656J. Hammond Leah & Rachel (1844) 9 Corn (the main staffe of life). 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 35 For Corn, they have Rice the Staff of the Land. 1860All Year Round No. 45. 440 Barley bannocks and oat cake long remained the staff of life in villages in Scotland. 1901D. Sladen In Sicily I. 372 Broad beans form one of the staves of life in Sicily.
d. staff and staple: the chief elements or ingredients.
1869Buckle Civiliz. II. 171 Events of this sort though neglected by ordinary historians are among the staff and staple of history.
5. In proverbs and proverbial phrases.
†a. Various phrases of obvious meaning. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 7322 Þat þai desire, þai sal it haue, To þair aun heued a staue. 1444Lydg. in Pol. Poems (1859) II. 219 Whoo hath noon hors on a staff may ride. a1450Knt. de la Tour xv. 21 And sum saide it hadd be beter for her to holde her pees..and that she had bete her selff with her owne staffe. 1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 384 All thus enforsit he his fa And maid a stalwart staff to strik him selfe doune. 1546J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 21 The walkyng staffe hath caught warmth in your hand. 1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 519 These be all as good reasons as yt comon iest: The staffe standeth in the corner, therefore y⊇ good man is not at home. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 171 A Staffe is quickly found to beat a Dogge. 1594Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. (Grosart) V. 27, I warrant you are made while you liue, you neede not care which waie you staffe falles. 1659N. R. Prov., Eng. Fr., etc. 67 If you would know a knave give him a staff. Ibid. 74 Lean not to a broken staff. 1681H. Foulis Rom. Treasons 82 And though the Rule be but obscure, they are apt to take the staff by the wrong end, and apply it to their own pleasures.
†b. at (the) staves end or staff-end: at a distance, away from close quarters or familiarity, on unfriendly terms. Chiefly in phr. to keep or hold (a person) at staves end, to stand at staves end with (a person). (Cf. at arm's end, arm n.1 2 b.) Obs.
c1374Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 184 (Fairf. MS.) His new lady holdeth him vp so narowe Vp by the bridil at the staves ende, That euery worde he dred hit as an arowe. 1546J. Heywood Prov. i. xi. (1867) 34 And now without them, I liue here at staues end. 1601Dent Pathw. Heauen 175 So that wee both keepe Satan at the staues end, and also much sinne out of our soules. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. v. 292. 1640 Harsnet God's Summons Repentance 218 Hee keepes them a-while at the staves end, and speakes harshly unto them. 1650I. Ambrose Ultima (1654) 193 Whosoever they are that stand at the staffes end, he desires them to lay aside their weapons and come in. 1657S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. ii. 322 Vaine and wicked thoughts..will presse..into the heart, but a good heart will not owne them,..but stands at staves end with them. 1680Bunyan Mr. Badman (1905) 66 Had I been his Father, I would have held him a little at staves⁓end, till I had had far better proof of his manners to be good. a1780Shirrefs Poems (1790) 215 Fowks that ha'e power to mak' an' men', Sud keep sic lads at the staff-en'. 1816Scott Antiq. xvi, I expect him here one of these days; but I will keep him at staff's end, I promise you.
†c. to have, get, etc., the better (or worse) end of the staff: to come off best (or worst) in a contest, disputation, etc.; to have the advantage or the contrary. Obs. (Now stick n.)
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 306 As often as thei see theim selfes to haue the wurse ende of the staffe in their cause. 1546J. Heywood Prov. ii. iii. (1867) 48 Who had the wurs ende of the staffe (quoth I) now? 1616in Cal. Colon. Papers, E. Ind. 465 If others will be so foolish to cut their bellies for love (or rather lust) after whores, the worst end of the staff will be their own. 1626Jackson Creed viii. viii. 71 He having gotten (as wee say) the better end of the staffe, did wrest our wills at his pleasure. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) II. ii. 20 He was sure to keep the better end of the staff still to himself. 1688Bunyan Christ as Advocate 94, I am ashamed my self of mine own doings, and have given mine Enemy the best end of the Staff. 1753Richardson Grandison (1754) II. ii. 12 Miss Byron, I have had the better end of the staff, I believe?
†d. to set down (the or one's) staff: to take up a fixed or settled position; to abide stedfastly by an opinion, decision, etc.; similarly to fix the staff (obs.). to set up (or † in) one's staff (of rest): to settle down in a place, take up one's abode.
1584Greene Arbasto Wks. (Grosart) III. 217 Setting downe the staf therefore on this secure periury thus it fell out. a1610Healey Epictetus (1636) 61 But sette downe thy staffe at this, whateuer the end bee, it noway concerneth thee. 1642D. Rogers Naaman 175 Yet till she rests there, and sets downe her stafe upon the promise, shee shall haue no rest. 1667O. Heywood Heart-Treasure xiv. 165 A sober solid wel-taught Christian hath fixt the Staffe, and you know where to finde him, and he knows where to finde his own Principles. 1828[Carr] Craven Gloss. s.v., ‘To put down one's staff in a place’, to settle or take up his residence in it.
1590Shakes. Com. Err. iii. i. 51 Haue at you with a prouerbe, Shall I set in my staffe. 1594Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. (Grosart) V. 46 Here I was in good hope to set vp my staffe for some reasonable time. 1609Bodley Life (1647) 15, I concluded at the last to set up my Staffe at the Library doore in Oxford. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1792) III. 71 This gentleman who has done us the honour to set up his staff of rest in our house. 1765H. Walpole Let. to Earl Strafford 3 Sept., The Countesses of Carlisle and Berkeley..will set up their staves there [in Paris] for some time. 1815Scott Guy M. xix, Here, then, Mannering resolved, for some time at least, to set up the staff of his rest. 1840Dickens Sk. Yng. Couples 75 Old Mrs. Chopper, when her daughter married,..set up her staff of rest with Mr. and Mrs. Merrywinkle. 1860Trollope Framley P. xlviii, They appeared in London and there set up their staff.
†e. (one's) staff stands next the door: it is (one's) turn next. Obs.
1548Hall Chron., 3 Hen. VII. (1550) 13 The Prouerbe that sayth, when thy neighboures house is a fyer, thy staffe standeth nexte the dore. 1577–87Harrison England ii. iii. 152/2 in Holinshed, For when the lands of colleges be gone, it shall be hard to saie, whose staffe shall stand next the doore.
† f. to argue from the staff to the corner: to shift a discussion to another issue. Obs.
1656Bramhall Replic. ii. §9. 107 This is an argument from the Staffe to the Corner. I speak of a succession of holy Orders, and he of a succession of Opinions.
g. to have the staff in (one's) own hand: see quot. 1828.
1828[Carr] Craven Gloss. s.v., ‘To have the staff in one's own hand’, to keep possession of his property, and, of consequence, to retain authority and obedience. ‘To part with one's staff’, the very reverse of the former phrase. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xviii, And, of course, they know the staff is in their own hands. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. s.v., To keep the staff in your own hand.
6. (Cf. sense 1 c.) Part of the insignia of the episcopal office, consisting of a rod or pole of wood, metal or ivory supporting a crook, or, in the case of metropolitans, a cross. See crose, crosier, cross-staff 1, and cf. pastoral a. 3.
The staff represents the possession of jurisdiction and was one of the insignia connected with investiture.
a1122O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1047 Vif biscop com þær to, & for neah man sceolde tobrecan his stef. Ibid. an. 1102, Maniᵹe Frencisce & Englisce þær heora stafas & rice for luron. c1205Lay. 22105 Þene ærchebiscopes staf þer he Piram aȝaf. c1400Apol. Loll. 56 Prelats, wiþ þer stafis & oþer ornaments. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 424 How the Bischopis Stalf tuke Neidfyre. 1535Bp. Hilsey in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. II. 352 Yff hytt may plese your Mastershypp to be soe good unto me as to geve my predecessours Myttre, Staff, and Seale. 1643Baker Chron., Hen. I, 55 That the King should receive homage of Bishops elect; but should not invest them by Staffe and Ring. 1851Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. i. 1006 With his pastoral ring and staff.
7. A rod or wand, of wood or ivory, borne as an ensign of office or authority; spec. as the badge of certain chief officers of the Crown.
Cf. leading-staff s.v. leading vbl. n.1 6.
1535Coverdale Ezek. xix. 11 Hir stalkes were so stronge, that men might haue made staues therof for officers. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. ii. 59 The Earle of Worcester Hath broke his staffe, resign'd his Stewardship. 16051st Pt. Jeronimo i. i. 8 For honering me..With this high staffe of office. a1618Raleigh Prerog. Parl. 32 In his fifth yeare was the Treasurer againe changed, and the Staffe giuen to Segraue, and the Lord Chancellour was also changed, and the staffe giuen to the Lord Scroope. 1640in 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 80/2 Mr. Treasurer would not accept of the secretary's place until he was assured of holding his white staff also. 1642G. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 299 These Lords, Holland and Essex,..accordingly delivered their key and staff respectively to the Lord Falkland. 1711Swift Jrnl. to Stella 31 May, I was bit about the two staves, for there is no new officer made to-day. 1716Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) V. 283 By this Resignation of the..place..of Beadle..I kept Possession of the Library, laying down the Staff before I went out. 1813Geo. [IV] in Gurw. Wellington Desp. (1838) X. 552 You have sent me..the Staff of a French Marshal, and I send you in return that of England. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) I. iv. 204 He kept the white staff of treasurer down to his death. 1843Pugin Apol. Rev. Chr. Archit. 52 A verge or cantor's staff. 1863H. Cox Instit. iii. vii 694 Lord Godolphin, the Earl of Oxford, and the Duke of Shrewsbury successively received the Treasurer's staff.
8. a. A pole from which a flag is flown.
a1613[see flag-staff]. 1667Milton P.L. i. 535 Who forthwith from the glittering Staff unfurld Th' Imperial Ensign. 1702[see jack n.3]. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) Staff, a light pole erected in different parts of a ship, whereon to hoist and display the colours. 1774M. Mackenzie Maritime Surv. 39 Setting perpendicular in a level Ground three Poles, or Staves, between four and five Feet high, with Flags flying at each, so as to form a Triangle. 1816Byron Siege Cor. xi, The banners droop'd along their staves. 1836W. Irving Astoria III. 228 They would willingly have nailed their colours to the staff, and defied the frigate. 1894staves [see jack n.3].
b. A rod or pole on which a processional cross was borne.
1431Rec. St. Mary at Hill 27, ij staues [printed stanes] for þe principall crosses. a1529Skelton Ware the Hauke 114 Cros, staffe, lectryne, and banner.
†9.
a. A strong stick, pole, bar, rod or stake used for various purposes; e.g. for carrying burdens, to support a canopy, the stems of plants, etc. Obs.
c1000Lamb Psalter cvi. 16 Vectes ferreos confregit, stafas vel sahlas isenne tobræc. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2677 Ac some þat ofscapede..mid staues of hegges defended hom aboute. 1382Wyclif Exod. xxv. 13 And thow shalt make berynge staues of the trees of Sychym. 1390Gower Conf. II. 294 Doun goth the corde into the pet, To which he hath at ende knet A staf, wherby, he seide, he wolde That Adrian him scholde holde. 1485in Rutland Papers (Camden) 5 A seele of cloth of gold baudekyn with iiij staves gilte, to be borne alweis by iiij noble knights. 1523–34Fitzherb. Husb. §21 Than muste ye haue a wedynge-hoke with a socket set vpon a lyttel staffe of a yarde longe. 1530Palsgr. 275/1 Staffe to beare two peyles on, as they do in Fraunce, une covrge. 1538Elyot Dict., Phalangæ, staues, whereon men doo carye packes, playne staues. 1552in Daniel-Tyssen Invent. Ch. Goods Surrey (1869) 14 Item a canype with iiij staves. 1572L. Mascall Plant. & Graff. (1592) 13 How to set small staues by, to strengthen your Cions. 1643Baker Chron., Rich. II, 1 To beare the Kings Canopy, upon foure staves of silver, over the Kings head. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 320/1 A Bearing Staff by which empty Barrels are carried by Servants from place to place. 1708Constit. Watermen's Co. xxv, No Waterman..shall stick up and lay his Boat at his Staff, so as to hinder..due and orderly passing..but shall..stick up their said Staves clear of the said Stairs or Landing-places.
†b. A churn-staff; also = pump-staff (see pump n.1 6). Obs.
1559in Richmond Wills (Surtees) 134 A chirn with a staf. 1593[see shoe n. 5 b]. 1609Balliol Coll. Acc. (MS.), Item, staffe for mendinge the quadrangle pumpe.
†c. = plough-staff. Obs.
1538Elyot Dict., Rulla, the staffe, wherwith the plough⁓man clenseth his culter. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Rallum, the staffe wherewith plough men in tillyng put the earth from their share. 1577Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. 21 With the Rodde or Staffe well poynted, the plowman maketh cleane his Coulter.
†d. = bowstaff. Obs.
1545R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 116 The boole of ye tree is..best for a bow, yf the staues be euen clouen. 1583Rates Custom Ho. A vj, Bowestaues the bundel containing xvi staues v s. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 105/2 A Staff, the first cleeving out of the Timber, to make the Shaft. 1868Kirk Charles the Bold III. iv. viii. 136 And ‘bowiers’ [were ordered] to make their staves into bows with all possible haste.
e. ? Each of two sticks fastened to the extremities of a fishing-net.
1823J. F. Cooper Pioneers xxiii, Benjamin prided himself greatly on his skill in throwing the net... A loud splash in the water, as he threw away the ‘staff’, or ‘stretcher’. Ibid., ‘I see the ‘staffs’,’ shouted Mr. Jones;—‘gather in, boys, and away with it’... Elizabeth strained her eyes and saw the ends of the two sticks on the seine.
f. = train staff (a) s.v. train n.1 22 b. Cf. token n. 7 b.
1885E. B. Ivatts Railway Managem. at Stations 559 Staff (train), a piece of wood or metal used on single lines, which..confers the ‘right of road’ for an engine. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 147/1 The staff..is delivered to the engine-driver at station A, and constitutes his authority to occupy the main track between that station and station B. On reaching B he surrenders the staff, and receives another one which gives him the right to the road between B and C. 1931D. L. Sayers Five Red Herrings xxvii. 330 The station-master marched across, carrying the staff under his arm. 1974J. S. Holden Watlington Branch v. 87 One instance is recorded of the branch train being snowed up... A porter, despatched with the staff, had to make his way on foot.
10. a. Surveying. A rod for measuring distances and heights. Cf. Jacob's staff 2 b; also levelling staff s.v. levelling vbl. n. 4.
[1538Elyot Dict., Pertica, a staffe, a cogell, a perche or polle, wherwith grounde is mette.] 1556Digges Tecton. (1592) title-p., An Instrument called the profitable Staffe. 1571― Pantom. i. xiv. D iv b, Heightes are ingeniously searched out by a staffe. 1590Blagrave (title) Baculum Familliare, Catholicon siue Generale. A Booke of the making and vse of a Staffe, newly invented by the Author, called the Familiar Staffe. As well for that it may be made vsually and familiarlie to walke with, as for that it performeth the Geometrical mensurations of all Altitudes, Longitudes, Latitudes, Distances and Profundities. 1610A. Hopton (title) Baculum Geodæticum, sive Viaticum. Or The Geodeticall Staffe. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., Staff. This is used as an instrument for taking accessible, or inaccessible heights. Ibid. s.v., Station-Staff, in surveying. 1835Lond. Jrnl. Arts & Sci. Conj. Ser. VI. 330 The graduated staffs or measuring rods being thus placed at the stations. 1880L. D'A. Jackson Aids Surv.-Practice 11 Telemetrical observation on graduated staves. A graduated staff is held vertically at the required distant point [etc.].
†b. (See quot. and cf. Jacob's staff 2 c.)
For other uses see backstaff, cross-staff 2, fore-staff, Jacob's staff 2 a.
1728Chambers Cycl., Staff, in Surveying, a kind of Stand, whereon to mount a Theodolite, Circumferentor, plain Table, or the like, for use. It consists of Three Legs of Wood, joyned together at one End, whereon the Instrument is placed; and made pecked at the other, to enter the Ground.
†c. = half-breadth staff (see half- II. f).
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 407/1 The half breadth staff may be one inch square, and of any convenient length... Two sides of the staff are marked half breadths, and the other two sides heights of the sheer.
d. The gnomon of a sun-dial.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vi. iii. 123 The shadow being 83, the Gnomon or Staff 100. 1829Chapters Phys. Sci. ix. 89 The sun dial, which marks the time by the shadow of a stile or staff.
11. Her. A representation of a stick, stake, bar, etc.; spec. = baton n. 3, fissure n. 2 c. See also ragged staff 1.
1486Bk. St. Albans, Her. e vij b, Ther be fyssuris or stauys playn ingradyt inueckyt and fusyllatit. 1874Papworth & Morant Dict. Coats of Arms s.v. Staff, Arg. a hawk ppr...standing on a staff couped and raguled vert. Ibid., Az. eight staves fretty and raguly or.
12. Surg.
†a. The piston of a syringe. Obs.
1653T. Brugis Vade Mecum (ed. 2) 148 In dangerous fluxes when we give comfortable Clysters, we oftentimes force them up as far as we can, I mean the Liquor by thrusting the staffe harder.
b. A grooved steel instrument used to guide the knife in lithotomy.
1698Lister Journ. Paris (1699) 233 He boldly thrusts in a broad Lancet..till he joins the Catheter or Staff, or the Stone betwixt his Fingers. 1720J. Douglas Lithotomia Douglas. 14 That [operation] which Surgeons call Cutting on the Staffe, i.e. when a furrow'd Probe is pass'd into the Bladder, upon which they afterwards Cut. 1726― Hist. Lateral Operation 30 The Instruments he made Use of were first a Catheter or Staff. 1839Hooper's Lex. Med. (ed. 7) 1216. 1895 Arnold & Sons' Catal. Surg. Instrum. 572 Stricture Staff (Syme's). Ibid. 625 Lithotomy Instruments..Six Staffs, grooved.
13. Arch.
a. = rudenture.
1817Rickman Styles Archit. 95 The square pedestal of the pinnacle being set with an angle to the front, is continued down, and on each side is set a small buttress of a smaller face than this pedestal, thus leaving a small staff between them..this small staff at each set-off has the moulding to it.
b. (See quot. 1812.)
1812P. Nicholson Mech. Exerc. 202 Staff, a piece of wood fixed to the external angle of the two upright sides of a wall for floating the plaster to, and for defending the angle against accidents. 1902Sturgis Dict. Archit III. 593.
14. a. A rung of a ladder. ? Obs. Cf. stave.
c1325Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 168 (Camb. MS.) [En les reideles vount les roilouns glossed] staves. a1400–50Wars Alex. 1438 On ilka staffe of a staire stike wald a cluster. c1440Gesta Rom. xlvi. 367 The goldyn laddere; of the which the fyrste staffe is contricion of herte. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 68 b, Saynt Bernarde compareth them to a ladder of vii staues. 1563Homilies ii. Repentance ii. 279 The first staffe or steppe of this ladder. a1657R. Loveday Lett. (1663) 273 How many mount Fortunes ladder, and break the staves as they go up. 1657J. Watts Scribe, Pharisee, etc. iii. 99 They fall off the Ladder at the lower staffe or step again. 1850G. L. Banks (title) Staves for the Human Ladder. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade. 1875Knight Dict. Mech.
b. A round cross-bar connecting the handles or stilts of a plough, or the legs of a chair; = round n.1 3 d. Also, each of the handles of a plough. Obs. or dial. Cf. stave.
1523–34Fitzherb. Husb. §3 There be two roughe staues in euery ploughe in the hynder ende, set a-slope betwene the ploughe-tayle and the stilt, to holde out and kepe the plough abrode in the hynder ende, and the one lenger than the other. 1652W. Blithe Eng. Improver Improv. ii. xxviii. (1653) 190 But for the Plough-handles, some call them..Hales, and some Staves. 1851Sternberg Northampt. Gloss., Staff, the spar or ‘round’ of a chair.
†c. A spoke of a wheel. Obs. exc. Her. (also applied to the ‘rays’ of a carbuncle).
1642D. Rogers Naaman 296 As then the spokes and staves cannot be wanting to a wheele. 1754Boyer Gt. Theat. Honour (ed. 2) 116 Staves (is said of the Rays of the Carbuncle), Rais, ou Bâtons d'Escarboucle. 1847Gloss. Heraldry 294 Staff, a word applied by some to the rays of an escarbuncle, and the spokes of a wheel.
†d. Weaving. = lam n.2
1338in Dugdale Monasticon (1819) II. 585/2 Item pro weblomes emptis xxs. Et pro staves ad easdem vjd. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 835/1 The lams..or, as they are called in some parts of Scotland, the hiddles, and in others the staves.
†e. A bar or rail used in the construction of a gridiron, gate, cart, cage, etc. Obs.
1459Paston Lett. I. 468, j. roste iren with vij. staves. 1523–34Fitzherb. Husb. §5 The bodye of the wayne of oke, the staues..the keys and pikstaues. Ibid. §70 Make standynge cratches, to caste theyr fodder in, and the staues set nyghe ynough, togyther, for pullynge theyr fodder to hastely out. Ibid. §141 If any gate be broken down, or want any staues. 1596L. Mascall Cattle, Horses 120 When thou dost take any iourney, with thy horse and cart, thou must..see the rath staues and struts be whole and sound & wel furnished, with staues of good strong holly, hasell, or oak. 1601Holland Pliny xxx. x. II. 388 The staves and windings, whereof the said cages are made.
† f. Each of the thin narrow pieces which compose a cask, barrel, tub, etc. Obs. (Now stave n.)
The sing. has always been rare; for examples of pl. from 1398 onwards, see stave n.
1531–2Act 23 Hen. VIII, c. 4 §8 If any personne..do mynysshe..any maner of barrell..by reason of..takyng oute of any Staffe out or frome any suche vessell. 1599Dallam in Early Voy. Levant (Hakl. Soc.) 35 Ther weare marvalus greate peecis that weare made of hammered Iron, everie stafe at the leaste 3 inches square, and houped aboute lyke a barrell.
†g. The shank of an anchor. Obs. rare—1.
1611Cotgr., Stangue d' un' ancre, the staffe of an Anchor.
h. Mech. Each of the cylindrical bars forming the teeth of a trundle or lantern; cf. stave n.
1659,1812–16[see lantern n. 7 d]. 1764,1805[see round n.1 3 d]. 1825J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 24 The semi⁓diameter of a staff of the trundle.
i. Watchmaking. An arbor or axle.
1860E. B. Denison Clocks & Watches (ed. 4) 285 The staff or arbor of the balance. 1885Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. iv. 339/1 Centre the point so that the body of the staff runs perfectly true. 1902Daily Chron. 13 May 10/5 All Jobbers requiring pivots, staffs, cylinders, and complicated watch repairs.
†15. A pair (of cocks), a set of three (hawks).
1688Holme Armoury ii. 252/2 Four staves of Cocks (or 16 Cocks). Ibid. 311/1 Three a staff of Hawks. 1691Ray S. & E.C. Words 115 A Staffe of Cocks, a pair of Cocks. 1790Grose Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2), A staffe of cocks; a pair of cocks.
16. A bundle of 50 bunches of the heads of the teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) used for teasing cloth. (See also stave n., which occurs in Mortimer 1707.)
1794Griggs Agric. Essex 19 These heads [of teasel] are..bound up in small bunches, or gleans, of five and twenty heads each; the like number of which bunches, or gleans, constitute half a staff; which, after a few days sun, to harden and dry them, are tied together upon a stick or staff, of two feet and a half long, and in this form, carried to market. 1856Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 1126/2 Staff, of teazles (Essex), 50 bunches, or gleans of 25 each = 1250.
17. a. An enclosure or plot of pasture ground. b. A measure of nine feet.
1786Jackson's Oxf. Jrnl. 3 June 1/3 A Ham or Staff of rich Meadow Ground, in Kelmscott, containing ten Acres and a Half. 1796W. H. Marshall West Eng. I. 330 Staff: a measure of nine feet; half a customary rod.
II. Letter, verse, musical staff.
These senses are here placed together because of their similarity of application, but it is doubtful whether they have any immediate connexion.
†18.
a. A written character, a letter. Obs. Cf. bocstaff, rune-stave.
c888ælfred Boeth. xix, Hwæt is heora nu to lafe, butan..se nama mid feaum stafum awriten? c1000ælfric Gram. ii. (Z.) 4 Littera is stæf on englisc. c1200Ormin 16403–5 & off þatt name toc Drihhtin An staff Allfa ȝehatenn, To timmbrenn till þe firrste mann Hiss name off stafess fowwre.
†b. A mark made by, or as by writing. Obs.
c1050Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 346/27 Apicibus, stafum. c1205Lay. 21154 Þer wes innen igrauen mid rede golde stauen an on-licnes deore of drihtenes moder.
19.
†a. A line of verse. Obs.
c1450in Herrig's Archiv CIV. 309 All be it the frenssh in foure staves be, The ynglissh sevyn kepith in degree. c1475Partenay 6555 As ny as metre can conclude sentence, Cereatly by rew in it haue I go. Nerehand stafe by staf. Ibid. 6581 Als the frensh staffes silabled be More breueloker and shorter also Then is the english lines. c1540Pilgryms T. 739 in Thynne Animadv. (1875) App. i. 98 Thes vi stauis..whiche be chaucers own hand work.
†b. A stanza or set of lines. Obs. Cf. baston 2.[There is no ground for the common statement that this is from ON. stef set or recurring time, refrain of a poem.] a1530J. Heywood Weather (Brandl) 179* At thende of this staf the god hath a song played in his trone. a1577Gascoigne Certayne Notes ⁋14 Wks. 1907 I. 471 Rythme royall is a verse of tenne sillables, and seven such verses make a staffe. Ibid., The firste twelve do ryme in staves of foure lines by crosse meetre. 1582T. Watson Hekatompath. lxxxviii. (Arb.) 124 The two first staffes (excepting onely the two first verses of all). 1586W. Webbe Eng. Poetrie (Arb.) 59 Some of many rymes in one staffe (as they call it). Ibid. 62 The diuersities of the staues (which are the number of verses contained with the diuisions or partitions of a ditty). 1607R. C[arew] tr. Estienne's World of Wonders 199 marg., A staffe of eight verses. 1656Cowley Pindaric Odes, To Dr. Scarborough Note ii, In the ninth staffe of the Nemeæan Ode. 1697Dryden æneid Ded. (f) 1 b, Mr. Cowley had found out that no kind of Staff is proper for a Heroick Poem; as being all too lirical.
c. A ‘verse’ or stanza of a song. Now stave.
1598Yong Diana 257 These two last staeffs [sic] so liuely touched Parthenius that sung them. 1601Holland Pliny x. xxix. I. 286 Yee shall have them listen attentively to the old birds when they sing, and to take out lessons as it were from them, whom they would seem to imitate staffe by staffe. 1601B. Jonson Poetaster ii. ii, I can sing but one staffe of the dittie neither. 1667C. Simpson Compend. Mus. 21 The second Staff or Stanza is the same as the first; only it is broken into Crochets.
20. Mus. A set of horizontal lines (now five in number) on which, and in the spaces between, notes are placed so as to indicate pitch. Also stave.
In harmonic or concerted music two or more staffs are used together, connected by a brace.
1662Playford Skill Mus. i. i. 4 But [for all] Lessons for the Organ, Virginals, or Harp, two staves of six lines together are required. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 157/1 [Follows Playford and adds:] They are called a Staff or Stansa. 1776Burney Hist. Mus. (1789) II. 87 The regular staff of four lines. 1806J. W. Callcott Mus. Gram. 1 The lines and spaces of the Staff are counted upwards. 1842Westm. Rev. Jan. 34 note, There is a schism among musicians, whether this should be staff or stave, pronounced by some staaf. Authorities are mostly in favour of ‘stave’ but custom may be pleaded for ‘staff’ and ‘staves’ in the plural. 1873H. C. Banister Mus. 2 Musical characters are written upon a series of parallel lines, termed a Stave or Staff.
attrib.1881Broadhouse Mus. Acoustics 365 The ordinary musical notation, or, as it is called, the ‘staff notation’.
III. (Pl. always staffs.)
21. Mil.
a. A body of officers appointed to assist a general, or other commanding officer, in the control of an army, brigade, regiment, etc., or in performing special duties (as the medical staff). General Staff, a body of officers controlling an army from headquarters under the commander-in-chief; hence Chief of the General Staff. Chief of Staff, the senior staff officer of a service or commander. [App. of continental Teut. origin. Cf. the like use of G. stab (also generalstab, regimentsstab, etc.), Du. staf; prob. developed from the sense ‘baton’ (= 7 above).][1700J. A. Astry tr. Saavedra Faxardo II. 249 The Germans call a Regiment, and all that belongs to it, the Colonel's Staff, (den Regiment oder Colonelstab,) for with that Soldiers are to be ruled.] 1781T. Simes Milit. Guide (ed. 3) 7 Staff of the Army. Ibid., The Staff properly exists only in the time of war. 1790Debates in Congress 18 Jan. (1834) 2146 The legionary staff..the brigade staff..the regimental staff. Ibid. 2152 The United States to make an adequate provision..for the following general staff. 1795in Ld. Auckland's Corr. (1862) III. 328 My destiny is finally to act on the staff in the island of Corsica. 1801Med. Jrnl. V. 185 The Medical Staff of the Armies acting in the West Indies. 1844Queen's Regul. Army 5 Any Officer of the Regimental Staff. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India II. 112 Several conferences ensued, not only with the Governor-General, but with members both of his civil and military staff. 1871Ann. Reg. ii. 95 The Duke of Cambridge, with his staff and the foreign officers attending the manœuvres, looked on from Bisley Common. 1875Encycl. Brit. II. 577 Officers for the General Staff are selected exclusively from the regular army, and except in cases of proved abilities in the field, must have passed through the Staff College... Officers appointed to the Personal Staff are not required to pass through the Staff College. 1904Rep. War Office (Reconstruction) Committee ii. 22 in Parl. Papers (Cd. 1968) VIII. 121 In accordance with our recommendations, a Chief of the General Staff of the Army has been appointed. 1937H. Nicolson Diary 21 Apr. (1966) 299 It is a man's dinner and consists mainly of the Cabinet and a few Chiefs-of-Staff. 1948in M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1951) 6/7 The artificial boundary line was decided upon by the joint chiefs of staffs during the war. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 595 Couldn't we have officials there as well, like the Chiefs of Staff?
b. ellipt. (chiefly with initial capital) = staff sergeant, sense 25.
1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words & Phrases 269 Staff, staff-sergeant. 1943Yank 8 Oct. 15 If all staffs are as shallow minded as this one, buck privates at the front are worth 10 staffs back home. 1958P. Scott Mark of Warrior i. i. 23 A sergeant..addressed them as ‘Gentlemen’ and told them to address him as ‘Staff’. 1965‘J. le Carré’ Looking-Glass War xii. 136 ‘You call me ‘Staff’,’ the instructor said. 1978J. Barnett Head of Force x. 88, I worked with Staff Gredek... The Staff was in charge of the depot.
22. a. gen. A body of persons employed, under the direction of a manager or chief, in the work of an establishment or the execution of some undertaking (e.g. a newspaper, hospital, government survey, school, etc.).
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. v. v, Subterranean Rivarol has Fifteen Hundred Men in King's pay..; what he calls ‘a staff of genius’: Paragraph-writers, Placard Journalists;..one of the strangest Staffs ever commanded by man. 1849J. J. Blunt Four Serm. iii. (1850) 84 With what a staff would our colleges be furnished to carry on the same work! 1857Trollope Barchester T. xliii, Those caterers for our morning repast, the staff of the Jupiter. 1875Dawson Dawn of Life iii. 38 One of the explorers on the staff of the Survey. 1879M. Arnold Mixed Ess. 152 The teaching staff have to furnish guarantees of their capacity to teach the matters of instruction confided to them. 1884Times (weekly ed.) 26 Sept. 13/1 Besides their staff of clerks, book⁓keepers, &c., they employed about 300 ordinary hands. 1894Conan Doyle Mem. S. Holmes 149 A coachman and two maids form the staff of servants.
b. Construed as pl.: members of a staff, employees. Rarely, an employee.
1931E. M. Brent-Dyer Chalet School & Jo xvii. 220 You're almost a Staff, so that'll be all right. 1955Times 10 May 17/4 A continuing supply of higher technical staff. 1970Daily Tel. 4 May 2/4 A Yorkshire factory with 250 staff, nearly all women. 1979P. Nihalani et al. Indian & Brit. English i. 166 The Director will introduce the new staff and ask him to say a few words.
c. spec. in a business organization: (a) the employees responsible for providing advisory and ancillary services to line managers and their subordinates; (b) salaried (as opp. to wage-earning) employees.
1915C. E. Knoeppel Installing Efficiency Methods viii. 58 He [sc. the engineer] decides to create an organization to be known as the ‘staff’—advisory in nature and without jurisdiction over any of the line officials. 1923O. Sheldon Philos. Managem. iv. 114 A ‘Staff and Line’ organization..is based upon a strict demarcation between thinking and doing; between the actual execution of production, which is the ‘Line’, and the business of analysing, testing, comparing, recording, making researches, co-ordinating information, and advising, which is the ‘Staff’. 1960,1964[see line n.2 19 d]. 1980Daily Tel. 16 Feb. 25/3 Almost all the major companies pay more [in redundancy payments] than the statutory minimum and generally staff will enjoy more generous benefits than shopfloor workers.
23. Staff (of Government): in the Isle of Man, a court of justice presided over by the governor; since 1883 a Division of the High Court.
a170034th Customary Law in Keble Life Bp. Wilson xvi. 511 No appeal shall be made from Church censures to the Staff, and none to be privileged from them. 1900A. W. Moore Hist. Isle of Man 836 The courts existing prior to 1883, viz., the Staff of Government, Chancery, Exchequer..[etc.] were united and formed into ‘Divisions’ of the ‘High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man’... The ‘Staff of Government Division’..was deprived of all its original jurisdiction, and is now solely an appellate court.
IV. attrib. and Comb.
24. Objective, as staff-bearer, staff-holder, staff-maker; instrumental, as staff-supported adj.
1553in Kempe Losely MSS. (1836) 44 Touching the stafmaker..I wyll see hym contented. 1611Cotgr., Bastonnier, a staffe-bearer, or Vergier. 1814Wordsw. White Doe i. 217 That bearded, staff-supported Sire. 1880L. D'A. Jackson Aids Surv. Pract. 98 The staff-holders must..be capable of holding the staff truly vertical.
25. a. In sense ‘of or belonging to a military staff’ (see 21), as staff appointment, staff car, staff duty, staff job, staff parade, staff pay, staff surgeon, staff uniform; staff cap, a flat-topped cap with a peak, such as forms part of various uniforms; staff college, a school in which officers are trained for staff appointments; staff corps, a body of officers and men organized to assist the commanding officer and his staff in various special departments; in India, a corps formed in each of the three presidencies to supply officers for service; staff-ride (see quot. 1902); hence staff-rider; staff sergeant (see quot. 1876); staff-wallah slang [cf. wallah b], a disparaging term for a noncombatant army officer; staff-work, the supportive work of planning, organization, etc., done by staff officers for the commander; also in civilian contexts. Also staff officer.
1802J. Orrok Let. 22 July (1927) 23 I'm in hopes thro' his Interest to obtain a *Staff appointment there. 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Passion & Princ. iii. II. 303 The Captain, habituated to India, ‘held on’, with staff appointments, as long as he could. 1875Encycl. Brit. II. 577/2 Staff appointments are held for five years only.
1902Westm. Gaz. 16 June 8/2 His Majesty,..with hand raised to *staff-cap, in military salute. 1904Daily Chron. 23 Aug. 8/1 The woman who depends upon a motor-car for recreation..wears a staff-cap just as much as she who goes yachting.
a1944K. Douglas Alamein to Zem Zem (1946) i. 11 A few staff and liaison officers in jeeps and *staff cars still passed. 1978R. V. Jones Most Secret War xix. 155 Scott-Farnie himself would be going and would have a staff car.
1868Queen's Regul. Army §220 No Officer will be appointed to the Staff, who shall not have passed the final examination of the *Staff College. 1911W. S. Churchill in R. S. Churchill Winston S. Churchill (1969) II. Compan. ii. xvi. 1283 You are authorized to apply to the War Office for the services of 25 Staff College Officers. 1974A. Price Other Paths to Glory i. vi. 63 He had a lecture to give at the Staff College.
1811Regul. Army 121 The Royal *Staff Corps. 1813Wellington in Gurw. Disp. (1838) XI. 122, I have therefore had cut out the sheets..containing the maps of the country immediately in my front, which I have had pasted upon linen by the Staff corps. 1853Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges (ed. 3) 241 Two companies of the Staff Corps were accordingly sent, with a strong working party, to Baragona, to make a bridge across the Tietar. 1880Gen. Adye in 19th Cent. No. 38. 698 All officers now seeking what is called an Indian career in any capacity—regimental, staff, or civil—must enter one of the three Staff Corps.
1913R. Meinertzhagen Diary 19 Dec. (1960) 57, I expected a better groundwork in *staff duties.
1916F. M. Ford Let. Aug. (1965) 67 Bridges..has written to Plumer to suggest that I ought to be given a *staff job.
1909Blackw. Mag. Apr. 568/2 The adjutant inspected the *Staff parade.
1876Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 401/1 *Staff Pay, pay given to officers and soldiers in the government service, who perform duties either on the permanent staff of an army or in regimental or departmental employment.
1898E. S. May Field Artillery 25 We have done the same sort of thing in this country in the form of ‘*staff-rides’. 1902Encycl. Brit. (ed. 10) XXXIII. 7/1 ‘Staff-rides’, as exercises on the ground without troops have come to be called, are just as effective a means of teaching strategy as field-days are of teaching tactics.
1910Contemp. Rev. Jan. 46 No one had seen the alleged *staff riders.
1811Regul. Army 147 *Staff Serjeants. 1851Ord. Royal Engin. §26. 121 On no account is any Non-Commissioned Officer acting as a Staff-Serjeant to be employed as a Pay-Serjeant. 1876Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 401/1 Staff Sergeants, non-commissioned officers employed on the staff of a regiment, district, or division.
1794Gentl. Mag. Nov. 995/2 Whilst the regimental surgeons are thus engaged in the field of battle..the new *staff-surgeons..are to be found at the general hospital, perhaps..20 or 30 miles..from the scene of action. 1803Wellington in Gurw. Disp. (1844) I. 539 Mr. Gilmour, the Staff surgeon with this division of the army.
1809Byron Ch. Har. ii. lxii. note, I was dressed in a full suit of *staff uniform.
1951R. Campbell Light on Dark Horse xi. 145 A family connection who was only a *staff-wallah, and jealous of my being a soldier. 1969V. de S. Pinto City that Shone viii. 161 She's chock full of bleeding staff-wallahs.
1923Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War I. p. xi, Bad *staff-work or faulty generalship. 1933W. S. Churchill Marlborough I. xxviii. 484 His private fortune was amassed upon the same principles as marked the staff-work of his campaigns. 1951Engineering 2 Mar. 269/2 Consultations among..executives, linked by ‘staffwork’. 1980Sunday Tel. 23 Mar. 17/8 [The new Archbishop of Canterbury] will need good staff work: some of his appointments in the past have been questioned, and he is by all accounts a bad delegator.
b. In the Navy used to designate a senior grade of officers, as staff captain, staff commander, staff surgeon. Also in passenger ships.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Staff-Captain, a designation conferred in 1863 upon masters of the fleet. Ibid., Staff-Commanders, a designation conferred in 1863 on masters of fifteen years' seniority. 1875Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. v. (ed. 2) 150 note, Staff-Commander Thomas A. Hull, R.N. 1913Times 13 Aug. 4/1 The first paper..was read by Staff-Surgeon Stewart, R.N. 1932S. G. McNeil In Great Waters 136, I was to be the first holder of the newly created post of Staff-Captain. 1944New Yorker 23 Dec. 26/1 One man who had this second feeling to a degree was Lemuel Watkins, staff captain and second in command to the Marquette's master. 1957D. G. O. Baillie Sea Affair 111 In ships carrying anything over a thousand passengers, there is usually a Staff Captain who devotes his entire activities to their proper entertainment.
c. In sense ‘belonging to the staff of a hospital, hotel, or other large establishment’ (see 22). Similarly, staff member. Also in sense ‘of, provided or reserved for, arranged by, the staff of an establishment’, as staff canteen, staff dance, etc.
1902Daily Chron. 13 May 10/7 Woman (Strong, active) as staff maid... Apply Housekeeper, Hotel Windsor. 1940R. S. Lambert Ariel & all his Quality i. 33 He fought shy of..social gatherings, except for appearances at occasional staff dances. 1942Wyndham Lewis Let. 27 Jan. (1963) 313 Your staff-member who has ended up a prisoner in Athens had an interesting journey. 1966Economist 3 Sept. 888/1 The employers' habit of describing concessions of better pay and conditions to manual workers as creating ‘staff conditions’ for all has often meant that yet further concessions have been made to ‘staff’ employees, in order to preserve their differentials over the men on the shop floor. 1972K. Benton Spy in Chancery xvii. 192 She probably had lunch there. There's a staff canteen. 1977F. Branston Up & Coming Man xiv. 150 Freelancing..binds you to a tighter routine than a staff job.
26. Special comb. (see also 25): staff and ticket (system) an elaboration of the staff system (below) allowing for the movement of several trains in one direction along a single line, whereby the last train carried the staff (sense 9 f above) and the preceding trains carried tickets pertaining to this (Obs. exc. Hist.); staff-angle, -bead = 13 b (cf. angle-staff, angle-bead s.v. angle n.2 8); hence staff-beaded a.; staff-bismar, a kind of steelyard; † staff-drive v. = staff-herd; staff-head, the upper end of a staff, carved, tipped with metal, etc.; the top of the tripod which supports a theodolite or other measuring-instrument; staff-herd v. trans., to depasture sheep in charge of a shepherd upon common or forest land; staffholster nonce-wd., a holster for a watchman's staff; staff-hook, ‘a sharp hook fastened to a long handle to cut peas and beans and to trim hedges’ (I. of Wight Gloss. 1881); staff-land Isle of Man [= med.L. terra de baculo], certain land in the parish of St. Maughold, also formerly in that of St. Patrick, the holder of which had the custody of the patron saint's pastoral staff; staff-man † (a) a man who wields a staff or cudgel; (b) a workman employed in silk-throwing (Simmonds Dict. Trade Suppl. 1883); (c) Surveying (see quot. 1940); (d) a member of a staff; staff nurse, a trained nurse in a hospital, ranking above a registered nurse and below a ward sister; staff photographer, a photographer on the staff of a newspaper or journal; staff-room, a common room for the use of the staff, as in a school; also transf., the staff itself; † staff-shide, a billet of wood for fuel; † staff-striker, a sturdy beggar, tramp; staff–student a., designating the relation between students and teaching staff; esp. in phr. staff–student ratio (cf. pupil–teacher adj. s.v. pupil n.1); staff system, a block system on railways according to which an engine-driver may not proceed along a single line without carrying the staff (sense 9 f above) authorizing him to do so; staff ticket, a ticket used on railways to operate the staff and ticket system (see above); † staff-torch, a tall thick candle used for ceremonial purposes; staff-tree, the genus Celastrus; staff-vine, Celastrus scandens of U.S.; staff writer, a writer employed on the staff of a newspaper, radio or television station, or the like.
1887C. E. Stretton Safe Railway Working iii. 64 All other single lines should be worked under the train *staff and ticket system. 1889W. M. Acworth Railways of Eng. x. 392 Single lines are commonly worked on what is known as the ‘staff and ticket’ system. 1927E. T. MacDermot Hist. Gt. Western Railway I. ii. xii. 611 The Wycombe Branch, on its extension to Thame in 1862, seems to have been the first on which the Train Staff and Ticket system was introduced. 1969Railway Mag. Feb. 67 Up to 1892, all movement of trains was controlled by staff and ticket, which was replaced by the Webb-Thompson electric train staff.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Staff-angle.
1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §239 The angles of the chimney breasts to have proper *staff beads. 1842Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Angle Bead, or Staff Bead.
1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §1598 Fix 1-inch deal tongued and splayed and *staff-beaded linings to three windows.
a1733Shetland Acts 31 in Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot. (1892) XXVI. 200 That none use *staff bismers, nor any other save such as are adjusted and marked to buy and sell on.
1566in Hyslop Ch. Stretton (1904) II. 178 [John Nichols, who had taken cattle] cum baculis, videlicet, *Staff-dryve [over Whittington Heath to the injury of the township]. 1506Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. III. 355, xij *staf hedis. 1766Complete Farmer s.v. Surveying 7 I 1/2 Turn about the table upon the staff-head. 1862Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 2947 (Theodolite) The tripod and its staff-head. 1888in Archæologia LI. 373 A staff-head of wood, coloured and gilded.
1563in W. Nicolson Leges Marchiarum (1705) 138 If it shall happen the Cattel or Sheep of the one Realm to be *staff-herded, or to remain depasturing upon the ground of the opposite Realm. Ibid., marg. Staffherding of Cattel. 1595in C. W. Hatfield Hist. Notices Doncaster (1866) I. 168 Doncaster time out of mind have made drives..and staff hearded upon the moor. 1828[Carr] Craven Gloss., Staff hird, to have sheep under the care of a shepherd.
1922Joyce Ulysses 423 At a corner two night watch in shoulder capes, their hands upon their *staffholsters, loom tall.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §29 Pees and benes be..reped or mowen some with sickles, some with hokes, and some with *staffe-hokes.
1890A. W. Moore Surnames etc. Isle of Man 122 *Staff lands.
1659Torriano, Bastoniére..also a cudgeler, a *staff-man. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 799/2 Staffman (Surv.), the surveyor's assistant whose duty it is to hold the levelling staff while the instrument is sighted upon it and readings are being taken. 1976Time 27 Sept. 12/2 Says one Carter staffman: ‘Jimmy has his good smiles and his bad smiles.’ 1977P. Pollack Pict. Hist. Photogr. (rev. ed.) 138/1 The largest pool of talented recorders..unsurprisingly, was to be found among the staffmen of Life magazine.
1888H. Morten Sk. Hosp. Life 6 An intelligent and capable woman can expect to rise by gradations from ‘*staff-nurse’ to ‘sister’. 1972J. McClure Caterpillar Cop xiii. 216 The staff nurse calls them from the other ward if she needs help. 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Med. LXXI. 401 This is presumably what the Briggs report implies when it recommends that staff nurses should be made head of ward teams whose teaching they themselves would undertake.
1941Times (weekly ed.) 30 July 6/4 This special study was taken in the garden of 10, Downing Street by a *staff photographer. 1977P. Pollack Pict. Hist. Photogr. (rev. ed.) 134/2 In the Israeli-Arab War of June 1967, the first casualty was Paul Schutzer, staff photographer of Life magazine.
1925W. Deeping Sorrell & Son xxx. 297 There is a vacancy at the Northern Free, a junior surgeonship. Sir Ormsby told me about it to-day in the *staff-room. 1953K. Tennant Joyful Condemned xvi. 136 The staff-room was split over the sensational row between Miss Page and the Head. 1977P. Kemp in Winter's Tales XXIII. 46 On the first day of the last term..she hurried to the staff-room.
1411Rolls of Parlt. III. 665/2 Tout le maresme & fuaile, autrement appelle *Staffes-hides [sic] & Kides.
1376Ibid. II. 340/2 Et plusours de eux devenent *stafstrikers. 1468Maldon (Essex) Liber B. lf. 12 b, Nyght⁓walkeres, stastrykeres [sic], and evesedropperes.
1969H. Perkin Key Profession iv. 130 After the immediate post-war crush an improved *staff–student ratio. Ibid. vi. 246 The A.U.T.'s policy on staff–student relations should stand firmly on the principle of a community of scholars. 1974Howard Jrnl. XIV. 80 There is a good staff–student ratio as well as up-to-date teaching equipment. 1982M. Millar Mermaid iv. 49 Staff–student romances..can be a problem.
1887C. E. Stretton Safe Railway Working iii. 64 (heading) The train *staff system. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 147/1 In the United Kingdom and in Australia the means for preventing collisions between trains running towards each other is the ‘staff system’. 1966K. Möller Amer. & Brit. Railway Eng. 39 The..staff system is still in use in Britain; every engine running over a certain section of a line must carry the corresponding token or staff.
1885E. B. Ivatts Railway Managem. at Stations 559 Two or three trains may be passed forward by ‘*staff ticket’ in this way, but ultimately either a train, an engine, or a messenger must convey the staff to enable trains being sent in the opposite direction.
1532–3Rec. St. Mary at Hill 361 Item, paid for iij *staf torches of wex, to hold at the levacion ijs vjd. 1556Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 54, ij C. powre men in blacke gownes holdynge staffe torches. 1580–1Act 23 Eliz. c. 8 §3 Wares wrought with Waxe, as in Lightes, Staftorches.
1633Johnson Gerarde's Herbal App. 1600 Celastrus Theophrasti. The *staffe tree. 1771J. R. Forster Flora Amer. Septentr. 11 Celastrus bullatus. Staff tree, elegant. Virginia.
1884W. Miller Plant-n. 130 *Staff-vine, Celastrus scandens.
1914*Staff writer [see credit n. 13 d]. 1941W. Abbot Handbk. Broadcasting (ed. 2) xxvi. 322 Staff writers prepare commercial continuity, talks, announcements, interviews, special-occasion scripts, original plays, adaptations, and often station publicity. 1967E. E. Willis Writing Television & Radio Programs i. 11 Writers who are permanently attached to the staff of a broadcasting organization and are paid on a regular weekly or monthly basis instead of being paid per script are known as staff writers. 1977D. Greene in Bond & McLeod Newslett. to Newspapers ii. 89 Cave's other early ‘staff writers’..were much more than Grub Street hacks.
▸ staff weapon n. now chiefly hist. a cutting or thrusting weapon with a long shaft or handle; cf. sense 3b.
1788J. C. Walker Hist. Ess. Dress Irish 127 Having thus returned..to the *Staff-weapons. 1819Scott Legend of Montrose xiii, in Tales of my Landlord (3rd Ser.) IV. 280 Partizan, halbert, Lochaber-axe, or any other modern staff-weapon. 1917Times 15 Feb. 11/5 Here are shown staff weapons, crossbows, axes, maces, and the great lance of Charles Brandon. 1986B. B. Broughton Dict. Medieval Knighthood 364 Partisan, staff weapon of the pole type with a two-edged straight blade introduced during the reign of Edward III.
▪ II. staff, n.2|stɑːf, -æ-|
[Of obscure origin.]
A building material consisting of plaster mixed with fibre, used for temporary ornamental work.
1892Advance (Chicago) May 19 When mixed the staff is rolled out into slabs to be nailed to the sides of buildings, or made up in blocks..for statues, friezes or cornices. 1892Times (weekly ed.) 21 Oct. 10/1 They [the Exhibition buildings at Chicago] are..covered with the composition of plaster, cement, and hemp, or similar fibre, known as ‘Staff’. Ibid., The sculpture and decorations on the buildings are also chiefly of ‘staff’, being first modelled in clay. 1893Offic. Guide World's Columbian Expos. 21 Staff was invented in France about 1876, and was first used in the buildings of the Paris Exposition in 1878.
▪ III. staff, v.|stɑːf, -æ-|
[f. staff n.1]
trans. To provide with a staff of officers, teachers, servants, etc.
1859Times 20 Aug. 7/6 We end by being efficiently and sensibly equipped, commanded and staffed. 188119th Cent. Apr. 656 Two or three such women, a care-taker, and a cook would adequately staff each home. 1888Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere v. xxxiii, A powerful church of the new type, staffed by friends and pupils of Pusey. 1895Naturalist 132 It is a satisfaction to note how well the museum is staffed. 1904Catholic Times 1 Jan. 8/3 To furnish and staff some three or four first class day schools for boys.
Hence ˈstaffing vbl. n.
188219th Cent. Nov. 788 The Board schools..have..many advantages, derived from..their superior staffing, and more highly paid teachers. 1901Scotsman 30 Oct. 12/4 The staffing of the offices at Castle Terrace.
Add: staffed ppl. a., provided or peopled with staff, manned.
1888Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere III. xxxiii. 54 A powerful church of the new type, staffed by friends and pupils of Pusey, rose in the centre of R—. 1976P. R. White Planning for Public Transport iv. 83 Service times per passenger, either from staffed office or machine, are thus reduced. |