staven.2
/steɪv/, U.S. /steɪv/ I. A stick, rod, or slat, and related senses.† 6. A bundle of teasel heads bound together after harvesting and drying, typically in order to be sold for use in cloth manufacture; = staff n.1 12. Obsolete.
1. A length of wood cut in preparation for being made into a bow; (also) the flexible wooden part of a longbow or similar weapon. Cf. staff n.1 11.Recorded earliest in bowstave n.; cf. bowstaff n.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > production and development of arms > [noun] > process in bow- or arrow-making > material for bows
yewOE
bowstaff1436
bois d'arc1805
bow-wood1805
stave1891
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun] > wood for making bows
yewOE
bowstaff1436
staff1545
bow-sting1551
bow-wood1805
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > archer's weapons > [noun] > bow > wooden part
bow-tree?1506
1584 R. Hakluyt Disc. Western Planting (1993) xxi. 123 Arrowheadmakers. Bowstave preparers. Glewmakers.
1666 Exact Abridgm. Statutes in Force 47 Four Bowstaves shall be brought into this Realm for every Tun of Merchandice.., in pain of 6s. 8 d. for every Bowstave whereof default is so made.
1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. at Archery The bow consisted of the stave, or straight wooden part; the arch which was to be bent; the string by which it was bent; and the nook.
1859 H. A. Ford Archery (ed. 2) iii. 44 The great bane of Yew is its liability to knots and pins; and rare, indeed, it is to find a six foot stave without one or more of these undesirable companions.
1891 A. Conan Doyle White Company II. xv. 58 'Tis the master-bowyer's rede:..‘Every stave well nocked. Every string well locked.’
1932 Pop. Aviation Aug. 107/2 Staves for bowmaking can be obtained from lumber dealers and wood importers.
1943 C. von Fürer-Haimendorf Chenchus iv. 31 To string the bow, he rests one horn on the ground, the stave upright and the belly towards him.
2007 J. M. Volo & D. D. Volo Family Life Native Amer. v. 102 Bow construction techniques included a single stave of wood (self-bow), a wood stave with sinew reinforcement (backed bow), and a combination of wood, horn or antler with sinew backing.
2. A rod or stick, typically made of wood; a staff, esp. one used as a weapon (cf. staff n.1 4).In some contexts, difficult to distinguish from other senses (esp. those in sense 4).
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > club or stick > [noun] > pole or staff
roodOE
staffc1000
reppleOE
slot-staff1561
long-staff1595
bone-baster1600
handstaff1611
ballowa1616
watch pole1712
coup-stick1876
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > stick, twig, or rod
stickOE
wandc1175
rond?c1225
raddling1470
sway1630
halvelings1832
1598 R. Tofte tr. M. M. Boiardo Orlando Inamorato sig. F2 God and Saint George helpe Ogier weilde his Staue.
1669 tr. L. Dumay Disc. Hist. & Polit. War of Hungary 81 A long stave, at the end of which, there was a button of brass, from which did hang a horse tail.
1720 C. Nary New Hist. World ii. iv. 116 When Goliath saw David approach with a stick in his Hand, he was inraged at the Affront put upon him, of fighting him with a Stave.
1870 Arab Jack viii. 20/2 The old man carried a lantern, and grasped a stout stave, two great necessaries in Cairo after dark.
1979 ELH 46 728 He does hold, or lean on, a stave as if for support.
2016 Times 14 May 24/1 We said that ‘an attention-seeking numpty’ had approached Nicola Sturgeon brandishing a wooden stave.
3.
a. Each of a number of rods, bars, etc., forming part of an implement or other manufactured object; esp. a rung of a ladder; = staff n.1 8a; also in figurative contexts (cf. rung n. 2b). Now rare.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > ladder > [noun] > rung or step
stepc1000
gangOE
stavec1175
tine?c1225
ladder stalea1250
degreec1290
rungc1300
staffc1325
stairc1400
ladder stavec1440
scalec1440
roundc1450
stakec1450
sprang1527
staver1534
rundle1565
rave1566
roundel1585
rondel1616
ladder rung1620
rowel1652
spokea1658
stower1674
stale1714
rim1788
tread1838
through1899
step iron1912
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος 407 Ships may bee compared to a man that runs up an high ladder, and as soon as ever hee is got up to the highest stave of it, down hee goes till hee comes unto the lowest.
1712 A. Syddall Mask pull'd Off 46 I am come now to the Top Stave of the Ladder upon this Charge.
1837 Sheffield Independent 1 Apr. Immediately above the first stave of the ladder, is fixed a pair of small wheels to run against the side of a building.
1864 W. Miles Gen. Remarks on Stables (ed. 2) 49 The rack staves are round, two feet long..and three inches apart; they..are placed perfectly upright; the upper and lower end of each stave revolves in a top and bottom rail.
1883 Hastings & St. Leonards (E. Sussex) Observer 15 Sept. He was a man who had come from the bottom stave of the ladder and reached the top.
1922 Horsham (Austral.) Times 22 Dec. 6/3 On the topmost stave of the ladder..he raised himself and stood a few seconds on his hands as calmly as if he were on parallel bars on the ground.
1954 R. Wailes Eng. Windmill xxi. 176 I went to fit new triangles to the sails at Gt. Holland Mill near Clacton one day and I wanted a 25 stave ladder to reach the sails.
b. Each of a number of horizontal bars or rods in a loom; esp. each of the bars or which bear the heddles and may be raised or lowered to change the shed. Cf. staff n.1 8b.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > loom > other parts
studdlelOE
staff1338
trendle14..
trindle1483
cylinder?a1560
harness1572
mail1731
mounture1731
leaf1807
march1807
dropbox1823
neck-twine1827
mounting1835
shaft1839
Jack1848
selvage-protector1863
serpent1878
take-up motiona1884
swell1894
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. 177/2 Each Loom has more or fewer of these Spring-staves, and each Stave more or fewer Coats, as the Tapistry consists of more or fewer Threads.
1853 Brit. Patent 2487 (1854) 7 Two corresponding vertical and parallel yarns..which are stretched continuously from one heald stave to the other.
1947 J. H. Strong Fabric Struct. iv. 49 Any stave through which any particular thread is drawn must be lifted or left down according to the intersections such a thread makes in the design or pattern.
2008 S. C. Graham Bancroft viii. 79 At the end of that pass the staves were reversed by the mechanism of the loom to ensure that on its return path the weft lay over the warp threads it had previously traveled under and vice versa.
c. Each of the set of equally-spaced parallel bars fixed between two discs to form a trundle (trundle n. 2); = staff n.1 8f. Now chiefly historical.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > wheel > [noun] > cog or gear > lantern > parts of
cogs and rungs?1287
staving1491
stave1845
rundle1875
1787 J. Imison Treat. Mech. Powers (ESTC T55770) 37 Allow three for the bottom to the pitch line of the cog; the other two parts for the epicycloid, so as to fit and bear on the stave equally.
1845 P. Barlow Manuf. in Encycl. Metrop. VIII. 102/1 The teeth of pinions are also distinguished by the term leaves, and those of the trundle by staves or rounds.
1845 P. Barlow Manuf. in Encycl. Metrop. VIII. 102/2 The centre of the stave A..half the diameter of the stave.
1869 W. J. M. Rankine Cycl. Machine & Hand-tools 137 When two wheels gear together, and one of them has cylindrical pins (called staves) for teeth.
1951 J. Hillier Old Surrey Water-mills ii. 52 In the earlier lantern pinions and trundles a stave was removable.
4.
a. Each of the thin, narrow, shaped lengths of wood which are fitted tightly together to make the sides of a wooden barrel, bucket, etc.; (later also) each of a number of lengths or sections of another material fitted together in a similar way to form the sides of a container or other object. Cf. staff n.1 8c.Cf. later sense 4e.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > barrel or cask > [noun] > stave
stavea1398
staff1531
stap1587
bung-stave1860
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > strip of wood > for making casks or vessels
stavea1398
staff1531
barrel stave1549
hogshead stavec1580
pipe stavec1580
lag1659
laggin1825
noggin-stave1855
staver1891
1679 E. Coles Dict. Eng.-Lat. (ed. 2) A stave in a Hogshead, Secamentum [not in ed. 1677].
1692 in J. D. Marwick Rec. Convent. Royal Burghs Scotl. (1880) IV. 153 All casks be made of weell seasoned knaple or oaken timber..the step or stave of a dew and sufficient thicknes of knaple, and if one of the staves that non of them be reft or clift.
1731 Regulations & Instr. relating to His Majesty's Service at Sea (Royal Navy) iii. 127 Always accounting each Stave above Forty four Inches long, for a Butt Stave.
1769 E. Bancroft Ess. Nat. Hist. Guiana 85 This quality renders it suitable for staves for sugar hogsheads.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. i. i. 16 One Citoyen has wrought out the scheme of a wooden cannon... It is to be made of staves, by the coopers.
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm III. 900 [The pail] is made light, of thin oak staves bound with iron hoops.
1923 C. A. Mitchell Expert Witness viii. 128 Two months later the stave of a wooden bucket was washed ashore near Hornsea.
1955 Southern Power & Industry June 70/1 The silo is constructed of pre-cast concrete staves with wrought iron hoops.
2021 Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Kentucky) (Nexis) 28 Sept. The residual sherry in the staves gives the sweeter taste.
b. More generally: a narrow, flat piece of wood (or occasionally another material), esp. one abutted or fitted together with others to form a surface; a board, lath, etc.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > board or plank
boardc1000
plank1294
shingle-boardc1300
shotboard1310
planch1344
plancher1408
theal1517
broad1535
brod1643
mahogany plank1739
shingle1825
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > piece for making into laths
splinting1527
bolt1688
stave1823
1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 372 The laths [for plastering] generally used in London are made of fir, imported from Norway, the Baltic, and America, in pieces, called staves.
1853 C. Anderson Eight Weeks' Jrnl. in Norway 17 In the large sitting-room the musket-balls..still remain, sticking in the staves which panel the walls.
1936 S. K. Margold Some Essent. Facts on Govt.-aided Housing W. Europe (U.S. Dept. Commerce) 7/1 Living-room floors are of wooden staves on joist floors.
1948 W. R. Watson And All your Beauty i. 4 The ceiling..is made of longitudinal cedar staves or laths, on cedar ribs.
2020 Sunday Times (Nexis) 2 Feb. (Features section) 21 Designs include long planks and short ‘parquet’ staves, which can be used to make geometric, herringbone and chevron patterns.
c. Architecture. A vertical timber forming part of the structure of a building; spec. (a) each of a number of small upright posts set between the structural timbers of a timber-framed building, serving as a basis for the wall infill; (b) any of several large, load-bearing vertical posts or planks forming part of the framework or walls of a timber building, esp. a stave church (see stave church n.).In sense 4c(b), attested earliest in stave-built adj.
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the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > a vertical support, post, or stake
stakec893
studeOE
studdleeOE
stealc1000
stockc1000
postOE
stander1325
pillar1360
stilpc1380
bantelc1400
puncheon1423
stanchion1433
standard1439
side tree1451
stancher1488
stanchel1586
stipit1592
shore1601
trunch1622
arrectary1628
staddle1633
standing1800
mill-post1890
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > roughly squared beam
beam978
balka1400
needle1428
joist1487
sill1488
rafter1553
timbera1575
bat1577
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > supporting beam or plank of wood
skid1609
needle1684
head tree1747
sleeper1849
1836 tr. F. von Tietz St. Petersburgh, Constantinople, & Napoli di Roma (Amer. ed.) xxxviii. 181 Between the interstices of this frame-work the staves and laths are secured, over which is plastered the soil dug out.
1852 C. Anderson Jrnl. 29 June in Eight Weeks' Jrnl. in Norway (1853) 21 Rainy morning; went and saw the church, stave-built, cruciform, with spire.
1919 A. H. Powell Old Cottage Saved 13 The illustration taken from inside the living room of the west cottage..shows the upright staves of the wattle and daub.
1974 Encycl. Brit. Micropædia IX. 539/1 The stone foundation of the stave church supports four horizontal wooden beams, from which rise four corner posts, or staves.
2013 N. Alcock & D. Miles Medieval Peasant House Midland Eng. v. 99/1 The primary panels have riven oak staves with riven oak laths nailed onto the outer faces of the staves... A chalk/lime daub mixed with chopped straw was applied on this framework.
2016 Viking & Medieval Scand. 12 202 Runes occur mainly in the nave—frequently on the supporting pillars (the staves)—whereas figurative graffiti are abundant on the walls of the chancel.
d. Originally U.S. A thin, typically flat, strip of a firm but flexible material (for example whalebone, metal, or plastic) inserted into the fabric of a garment or other item in order to stiffen, support, or shape it. Cf. stay n.2 Additions.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > stiffening > whalebone > strip of
bone1595
whalebone1601
fin1634
1852 H. West in Water-cure Jrnl. (N.Y.) Nov. 118/2 There will be no more necessity for stays, whalebone, staves and cords. With this new dress, all these paraphernalia will be dispensed with.
1880 South Kentuckian (Hopkinsville, Kentucky) 17 Aug. The ball intended for her struck a steel corset stave and glanced away leaving her uninjured.
1904 Harrisonburg (Va.) Daily News 20 Apr. Prince..told of Kennedy's having in his possession a corset stave with which he made a saw.
1960 E. Evan Brown et al. Labor Efficiency & Damage Control in Harvesting Peaches S. Carolina Agric. Experiment Station Bull. No. 475 8 Container 2 is made of canvas fitted over metal staves, which add rigidity.
2014 S. C. deWit & P. O'Neill Fund. Concepts & Skills for Nursing (ed. 4) viii. xxxix. 811/2 A back brace has metal staves sewn into the fabric.
e. Chiefly U.S. A flat metal hoop or band used to hold together the sides of a barrel, bucket, etc.Cf. earlier sense 4a.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > barrel or cask > [noun] > hoop
hoopa1175
tonnel-hoop1341
garth1483
girr1611
gird1612
neck-hoop1641
1962 Press-Courier (Oxnard Calif.) 12 Jan. 17/3 The solid oak barrels probably never saw the inside of a Kentucky distillery. But, they have brass nail heads and..metal staves for authenticity.
1982 Daily Times-News (Burlington, N. Carolina) 25 Mar. 5 (advt.) ½ Hardwood Barrels with metal staves. Many uses.
2005 Tampa (Florida) Tribune (Nexis) 10 Mar. (Final ed.) 1 Boys and girls of early America played the game, using sticks to whack hoops as they rolled along the ground. They used the metal staves from disintegrated barrels, or wood hoops.
5. U.S. (originally colonial). A bar or ingot (of lead). Now historical.Chiefly in connection with trade between North American Indian populations and Dutch and British settlers in the 17th cent. Sometimes identified with a pig of lead (pig n.1 11a), although that usually denotes a greater mass than is suggested contextually in the quots.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > base metal > [noun] > lead > lead in specific form > pig or half-pig
sow1481
pig1589
piece1747
stave1864
1681 M. Sackameker et al. Copy of Document 17 Mar. in https://dlc.library.columbia.edu (accessed 1 June 2022) Fifty Staves of Lead, ten Shirts, twelve Peare of stockings.
1683 in C. W. Horle Rec. Courts of Sussex County, Delaware (1991) I. 243 One third part of twelve Botles of Indian Drinck, foure duble handfulls of powder & three staves of Lead.
1848 E. B. O'Callaghan Hist. New Netherland II. 294 [26 Oct. 1655] The Director-general wished now to know how much they would be willing to take ‘for all the prisoners en masse, or for each individually’. They answered, seventy-eight pounds of powder and forty staves of lead, for twenty-eight persons.
1864 C. H. Hunt Life E. Livingston i. 7 [For land purchased from the Indians in 1683, Robert Livingston agreed] to pay to the said Owners these following Goods..; Six Guns, fifty pounds of Powder, Fifty staves of Lead [etc.].
2003 A. Brink Invading Paradise viii. 138 His purchases at auction were few and practical—at the Van Imbroch auction in the fall of 1665: a flint lock.., four small staves of lead, a lantern with a broken pane and a mop.
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the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > bundle > of teasel-heads
stave1707
row1792
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [noun] > putting nap on > teazle > bundle of
staff1794
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 147 The common Produce is about 160 Bundles or Staves upon an Acre, which they sell for about one Shilling a Stave.
1834 E. Parsons Civil, Eccl., Lit., Commerc., & Misc. Hist. II. iii. 435 Each pack contains forty-five staves, and each stave three hundred teazles, so that the amazing number of 21,060,000 teazles are consumed in one year.
1885 Western Daily Press 7 Oct. 3/6 Teazles at the time were selling at £4 5s per stave.
7.
a. Any of various objects or implements consisting of or resembling a rod, stick, or pole; (also) a rod, pole, shaft, etc., forming a component part in an object or device. Cf. staff n.1 7. Frequently as the second element in compounds.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > types of tools generally > [noun] > in form of bar, pole, rod, etc.
stingc725
stakec893
sowelc900
tree971
rungOE
shaftc1000
staffc1000
stockc1000
poleOE
spritOE
luga1250
lever1297
stanga1300
perchc1300
raftc1330
sheltbeam1336
stower1371
palea1382
spar1388
spire1392
perk1396
ragged staff1397
peela1400
slot1399
plantc1400
heck-stower1401
sparkin1408
cammockc1425
sallow stakec1440
spoke1467
perk treec1480
yard1480
bode1483
spit1485
bolm1513
gada1535
ruttock1542
stob1550
blade1558
wattle1570
bamboo1598
loggat1600
barling1611
sparret1632
picket1687
tringle1706
sprund1736
lug-pole1773
polting lug1789
baton1801
stuckin1809
rack-pin1821
picket-pin1844
I-iron1874
pricker1875
stag1881
podger1888
window pole1888
verge1897
sallow pole1898
lat1899
swizzle-stick1962
1750 T. R. Blanckley Naval Expositor 124 Stave or Spear (Pump Hand) is a long Rod of Iron with an Eye at the upper End, which Hooks to the Brake.
1864 J. D. Green Narr. Life J. D. Green 30 He rushed to a cart..tore out a heavy cart stave made of red oak, and..struck his master to the ground.
1873 Bradford Observer 7 May 3/7 [He] had frequently ill-used his wife, having on one occasion beaten her with a churn stave.
2003 R. Horlock I Remember When I was Young 273 It also had a wooden lid with a handle, and a hole in the lid to let the stave move up and down, thus churning and so the butter was made.
b. Any of various instruments consisting principally of a large straight rod, sometimes marked with graduations, used in measuring, surveying, or levelling. Cf. staff n.1 7d.
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the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > surveying > [noun] > surveying instruments > staff or pole > for levelling
ten-foot rod1701
stave1838
1819 J. Horsburgh Mackenzie's Treat. Marine Surv. (rev. ed.) 168 Take any point E, and in the line of direction between it and Δ place a stave or mark G in the line B C.
1824 G. Stephenson Let. in G. Stephenson Engineer & Lett. (1973) i. 66 If you could spare Joseph I think it might do him a great service to accompany my young men in their Survey, he could manage the Index Stave.
1860 P. T. Cautley Rep. Ganges Canal Wks. III. App. D. 113 The levelling stave should be placed both on the top of the pillar and on the plinth.
1965 S. G. F. Brandon Hist., Time & Deity iii. 56 From the New Kingdom period, they had used an ideogram, ḥeḥ, comprising the kneeling figure of a man, crowned with the symbol for ‘year’ and holding in each hand a measuring stave.
2007 A. L. Allan Princ. Geospatial Surv. ix. 181 A geodetic levelling stave is provided with two rods which allow it to be held vertically for some time.
c. The long shaft or handle of a tool or weapon. Cf. staff n.1 7c.Frequently (and earliest) as the second element in compounds.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > spear or lance > [noun] > shaft of spear
spear-shafta900
ashOE
shaftc1000
truncheon13..
tree?a1366
timberc1400
sting?a1500
spear-staff1530
steal1530
rodc1540
stale1553
stave1873
staff-
society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > parts of tools generally > [noun] > handle > long straight
stalea1200
steal1377
stealc1395
shaft1530
staff-
1823 Commerc. Directory 1823–4 (James Pigot) 274 Stiles Uriah, broom stave maker.
1880 Western Gaz. 3 Sept. 7/2 He said the defendant had beaten him with a rake-stave.
1957 in N. Braber & J. Robinson East Midlands Eng. (2018) v. 149 I got a besom stave and I gen..them the bloodiest hiding.
2018 L. Welsh In the Blood (e-book ed.) Grace was halfway up the aisle, moving slowly, carefully, quietly, the stave of the spade gripped in both hands.
8. A length of wood or another material inscribed with symbols or alphabetic characters (typically runes), sometimes functioning as a calendar or having a divinatory purpose. Cf. rune-staff n.See also sense 12a.
Π
1820 Edinb. Rev. Aug. 183 Poetry was usually inscribed upon small quadrangular staves.
1839 G. Stephens in tr. E. Tegnér Frithiof's Saga 287 Calendar-stave, carved with Runic signs &c.
1851 F. Palgrave Hist. Normandy & Eng. I. i. 13 The Northmen engraved the letters of the historic song on the Runic stave.
1976 Stud. in Philol. 73 249 Here Woden is working magic with what seem clearly to be runic staves.
2014 D. Forest Celtic Tree Magic 237 The ideal size for an ogham stave for use in divination will be relatively small, perhaps three to five inches long.
9. Chiefly British. A rod or bar forming a crosspiece or stretcher between the legs of a chair (cf. staff n.1 7e); a spindle, bar, or slat forming part of the back of a chair (cf. sense 3a, staff n.1 8d).
ΘΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun] > parts of chairs > other parts
round1599
staff1851
show-wood1864
shoe-piece1867
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun] > parts of chairs > back
chair-bow1483
chair-boll1556
stay1560
back1670
chair-back1747
1829 Sussex Advertiser 16 Mar. The child's death was occasioned by his getting on the stave of a chair in which he was seated, whereby the chair was overset, and he fell towards the fire.
1853 Leics. Mercury 21 May Mrs. Burke knocked her down with a chair stave.
1926 Gloucester Citizen 22 Sept. 3/2 ‘I beg your pardon,’ said uncle Brent icily, ‘but would you mind taking the back stave of your chair off my flower-bed, sir?’
2002 Daily Mail 5 Apr. 69/2 We were punished with a cane, and when that broke a stave from the back of a chair was used.
II. Senses relating to verse, writing, and music. Cf. staff n.1 II.† 14. Chiefly in contexts relating to early Irish manuscripts: a set of leaves or pages from a book or manuscript; a gathering, a section. Obsolete. rare.
10. A section or division of a poem, song, etc.; a verse, a stanza; = staff n.1 19b, 19c.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > part of poem > [noun] > stanza
versec1308
baston?c1335
staff1533
stanza1589
couplement1594
stance1596
stave1659
strophe1895
st.-
1592 R. Cosin Conspiracie for Pretended Reformation 32 The matter thereof is conceiued into an halting ryme... The first two staues and last staue are most perillous.
?1649 J. Dury Reformed School 27 When they have done, they all jointly sing a stave or two of a Psalme.
1709 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1886) II. 331 In most of the Churches..the 3 first Staves of the 64th Psalm were sung.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 662 The simple clerk, but loyal, did announce, And eke did roar right merrily, two staves, Sung to the praise and glory of King George!
1823 Ld. Byron Island ii. v. 23 One long-cherished ballad's simple stave.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xxxix. 162 ‘Cheer up, captain!’ cried Hugh, when they had roared themselves out of breath. ‘Another stave!’
1875 J. R. Lowell Spenser in Prose Wks. (1890) IV. 305 (note) Spenser's innovation lies..in valuing the stave more than any of the single verses that compose it.
1911 C. T. Brady Hearts & Highway xii. 199 I trolled out a stave of soldier song.
1987 M. O'Connor in E. W. Conrad & E. G. Newing Perspectives on Lang. & Text 248 The second stave of the poem involves three major questions.
11. Music. A set of horizontal, parallel lines used in musical notation; = staff n.1 20. In quot. 1688, with reference to a method of notating music for wind instruments by representing the fingering.In North American English, staff is the more common term in this sense (see staff n.1 20).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > notation > [noun] > stave
scale1598
system1653
staff1654
stave1786
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. iii. 160/2 Lines for the Pricking of Tunes or Lessons are six in a Stave, which are the number of the Holes, each Line for a Hole.
1786 T. Busby Compl. Dict. Music (at cited word) The five horizontal and parallel lines on and between which the notes are placed. Guido..is said by some to have first used the stave.
1854 A. Perrot tr. Wilhem's Musical Man. xxxvii. 107 The stave with 𝄢 is formed with the five lower lines of the grand stave, as the stave with 𝄞 is formed with the five higher lines.
1903 Times of India 10 Dec. The run up of an octave to the upper C above the stave.
2013 Trans. Inst. Brit. Geographers. 38 426/1 She signs her own initials, rendered as notes on a musical stave.
12.
a. An alphabetic symbol or character; esp. a runic symbol; a rune. Cf. rune n.2 1 rune-stave n.See also sense 8.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written character > [noun] > letter
staffc888
bookstaffOE
Kc1000
Yc1000
Zc1000
AOE
EOE
GOE
MOE
ROE
letterc1225
print1340
tawc1400
Wc1465
J1591
stave1866
alphabet1972
X-
1817 A. Plumptre Narr. Resid. in Ireland xxx. 328 The ancient Runic characters are also called Runic Staves.
1866 G. Stephens Old-Northern Runic Monuments I. i. p. x Many staves are more or less the same in both [Runic and Roman].
1987 E. Thorsson Runelore xi. 138 These..names are acrophonic; that is, they indicate the sound value of a stave through the initial sound in the name of the stave.
2003 P. R. Mountfort Nordic Runes 5 Different commentators use various titles for the staves, from Old Norse to Old English, and it is useful to know these variations.
b. A straight line or stroke used in forming a runic letter or symbol; spec. a vertical or upright stroke extending the full height of the rune. Cf. staff n.1 18c.
Π
1836 Rep. Royal Soc. Northern Antiquaries 110 After it [sc. the initial rune] follow three strokes, or staves, indicating that the transcriber was unable to make out the letters.
1987 R. I. Page Runes (1993) ii. 19 The s-rune..has mostly three staves, but occasionally four (and in some cases even more).
2021 J. S. Heier in P. L. Boyes et al. Social & Cultural Contexts of Hist. Writing Pract. vii. 131 The a-rune consists of a vertical stave with the twig sloping up.
13. Each of the alliterating sounds or phonemes falling on stressed syllables in a line of alliterative verse. Cf. head stave n.See also stave rhyme n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > alliteration > [noun] > alliterative letter
stave1894
1858 F. Metcalfe Hist. German Lit. 15 This form of verse, in which rhyme, properly so called, was unknown, was called alliterative or stave rhyme, from the three staves on which the line rested.
1894 H. Sweet Anglo-Saxon Reader (new ed.) p. lxxxv In our texts..the letters or staves are in italics.
1894 H. Sweet Anglo-Saxon Reader (new ed.) p. lxxxv We denote the first and second verse of each line by I and II respectively. II..has only one stave called the head-stave, while I has either one or two called under-staves.
1959 R. B. Le Page in Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. 58 434 The two alliterating staves, one in each half-line, have a definite structural function.
1962 K. Malone Widsith 67 Grammatically fela ic monna makes a unit but because of the m-stave that binds the two halves of the line together the on-verse must be classified as D in spite of the f-stave.
2009 Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. 208 200 The word appears twice, here too as an alliterating stave, but this time in the b-verse and as the head stave.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > material to write on > skin (vellum or parchment) > [noun] > vellum > quantity of
stave1861
1861 E. O'Curry Lect. Manuscript Materials Anc. Irish Hist. i. 13 The next book..is that called Cin Droma Snechta... The word Cin..is explained in our ancient Glossaries as signifying a stave of five sheets of vellum.
1861 E. O'Curry Lect. Manuscript Materials Anc. Irish Hist. 196 The workmen..carried off several loose leaves, and even whole staves of the book.
1879 Proc. Royal Irish Acad.: Polite Lit. 1 368 The detachment and distribution of the manuscript in this manner led to the loss of several staves and folios of the vellum.
Phrases
P1. at (the) stave's end: at a distance; in a distant or remote position; esp. (figurative) on distant, remote, or unfriendly terms. Chiefly in to keep (also hold) (a person) at stave's end; similarly to stand at stave's end: to remain distant or remote from a person or thing. Cf. at (the) staff's end at staff n.1 Phrases 3c. Obsolete.Some early examples could alternatively be interpreted as showing staves, archaic genitive singular of staff n.1; compare discussion in etymology section.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > discourtesy > [phrase] > not affable
at (the) staves end (also staff-endc1374
a thumb under the girdle1607
1601 A. Dent Plaine Mans Path-way to Heauen 195 So shall we both keepe Sathan at the staues ende, and also much sinne out of our soules.
1657 S. Purchas Theatre Flying-insects 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.
1756 R. Mein Cross Removed 14 They..Should at stave's end be ever set, for faith they'll never keep.
1884 Gospel Banner Jan. 5 He seems not only to hold thee at arm's length, but at stave's end.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (intransitive)] > shatter or break to pieces or burst
to-burstc893
forbursta1000
springOE
to-flyc1000
to-shootc1000
to-springc1000
to-drevea1225
to-resea1225
to-breakc1230
to go shiversc1275
to-drivec1275
to-rivec1275
to-shenec1275
to-wendc1275
debruise1297
lash13..
to-dashc1300
to-scatter13..
to-shiver13..
shiverc1330
bequash1377
shinderc1390
brasta1400
bursta1400
to-shiderc1450
to fly in pieces1488
sprent1488
splindera1500
reavec1560
dishiver1562
shatter1567
disshiver1586
split1590
slent1608
besplit1638
disrupt1657
splintera1661
rupture1734
explode1784
to ding in staves1786
to break, knock etc., or go, to smash1798
spell1811
to go (also run) smash1818
to play smash1841
bust1844
splitter1860
disrump1886
to fall into staves1895
smash1904
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (transitive)] > break to pieces, shatter, or burst
to-breakc888
briteOE
to-shenec950
abreakOE
forgnidea1000
to-brytc1000
to-burstc1000
to-driveOE
shiverc1200
to-shiverc1200
to-reavec1225
shiverc1250
debruise1297
to-crack13..
to-frushc1300
to-sliftc1315
chinec1330
littlec1350
dingc1380
bruisea1382
burst1382
rushc1390
shinderc1390
spald?a1400
brittenc1400
pashc1400
forbruise1413
to break, etc. into sherds1426
shattera1450
truncheon1477
scarboyle1502
shonk1508
to-shattera1513
rash1513
shidera1529
grind1535
infringe1543
dishiver1562
rupture1578
splinter1582
tear1582
disshiver1596
upburst1596
to burst up1601
diminish1607
confract1609
to blow (shiver, smash, tear, etc.) to or into atoms1612
dishatter1615
vanquashc1626
beshiver1647
disfrange1778
smash1778
explode1784
bust1806
spell1811
smithereen1878
shard1900
1714 W. Forbes Jrnl. Session 1705–13 90 The Pursuer needed not suffer..his Looms to fall in Staves through Want of Use.
1786 R. Burns Poems 32 To see his poor, auld Mither's pot, Thus dung in staves.
1841 A. MacLagan Poems & Songs 55 I only wonder The world was na dung in staves Wi' Jove's dread thunder.
1895 W. C. Fraser Whaups of Durley ii. 17 ‘A dune man’, the villagers said, ‘fa'in into staves’, and become quite unable to control a herd of boisterous children.
P3. slang. to tip (a person) a stave (also to tip a stave to (a person)): to sing a song to (a person); (in extended use) to speak or write to (a person). Cf. sense 10, tip v.4 1. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > singing > sing [verb (transitive)] > sing to
besing1828
to tip (one) a stave1883
society > communication > correspondence > letter-writing > write (a letter) [verb (transitive)] > write to
addressa1325
bepistle1589
beletter1655
epistolize1702
epistle1741
to tip (one) a stave1838
1762 J. Wignell Coll. Orig. Pieces 165 Come on, Brother Tars, and I'll tip you a Stave.
1838 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 2nd Ser. xxiii. 350 Jist tip a stave to the Governor of Nova Scotia, order him to inquire out the author.
1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island ii. x. 77 ‘Now, Barbecue, tip us a stave,’ cried one voice.
1908 E. G. Kennedy in E. R. Pennell & J. Pennell Life J. M. Whistler II. xi. 174 Perhaps he knows the lay of the ground. You speak French like a native; tip him a stave.
1963 Sunday Times 24 Mar. (Weekly Review section) 34/4 The chaps in knee-breeches were standing about..as though perfectly willing to tip anybody a stave.
P4. Scottish. to take a stave out of a person's cog and variants: to reduce or diminish the quantity of food, money, etc., available to a person; (more generally) to place a restriction or limit on a person in some way. Cf. cog n.5 1. Now rare.
Π
1862 Inverness Courier 18 Dec. 6/1 The funds of the school are exhausted, the day scholars are on short allowance—have had a stave out o' their cog of porridge, as Dr Guthrie told the meeting yesterday—and the resident pupils are being fed on credit and faith combined.
1879 Belgravia Aug. 209 It was a proverb in Cantire, when one was angry with another, that he would ‘take a stave out of his coge for that,’ meaning thereby, that such a one would be lessened of his enjoyments.
1889 H. Johnston Chron. Glenbuckie xvi. 179 I must either get my income augmented or take a ‘stave out of my cog’, as the saying is.
1937 in Sc. National Dict. (Electronic text) at Cog n.1 [Banff] Boggie wiz aye an upsettin' mannie, bit yon loss'll gar 'im tak' a stave oot o's cogue.
Compounds
C1. As a modifier, chiefly in senses in Branch I.
a. In various types of compound; esp. with participles, agent nouns, and verbal nouns, forming compounds in which stave expresses the object of the underlying verb, as in stave-cutting, stave-making (adjectives and nouns); stave maker, stave manufacturer, etc.
Π
1775 B. Romans Conc. Nat. Hist. E. & W. Florida 182 Hogshead staves of white oak are made by what are called gangs of people; a stave making gang consists of five persons.
1840 Mechanics' Mag. 33 497 Taylor's Improved Stave-cutting Machine.
1845 P. Barlow Manuf. in Encycl. Metrop. VIII. 103/2 Draw the line AB, joining the centres of the stave teeth.
1861 W. H. Russell in Times 12 July A few of the Creole population..engaged as hoopers and stave-makers.
1874 Spons' Dict. Engin. VIII. 2917 Stave-making and Cask Machinery.
1901 J. Black Illustr. Carpenter & Builder Ser.: Scaffolding 34 The sides..in which the points for centre of stave-holes [of a ladder] are shown.
1950 Wood Working Digest May 120/1 An opportunity for..the cooperage men or the stave manufacturer.
2005 Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 15 July (Travel section) 55 Stave production for beer barrels continued until the 1960s.
b. In sense 4a, forming compounds denoting objects constructed from staves, as in stave bucket, stave drum, stave tankard, etc.
Π
1844 John O'Groat Jrnl. 19 Apr. What fishcurer..would try to pass off painted barrels, or dry-ware stave casks.
1860 Gentleman's Mag. May 481/1 A stave-tankard of box-wood and oak.
1878 Bell's Life in London 20 Apr. 10/6 Antonio, holding a common stave-barrel, with his teeth gripping the chine, carried it, with three men sitting astride, a round of the stage.
1942 Musical Q. 28 238 A tumba, a small stave drum with a nailed cowhide head, also is used.
2009 Western Gaz. (Nexis) 27 Aug. 9 Historical artefacts found on the Tudor ship..including a backgammon board, a stave bucket, and a linstock used for firing a gun.
C2. † staverow n. Obsolete an alphabet; esp. the runic alphabet. Cf. sense 12a.Originally and chiefly in the usage of the philologist and runologist George Stephens (1813–95). [Compare staffrew n. at staff n.1 Compounds 2 and the Old Icelandic form cited at that entry.]
stave bolt n. [ < stave n.2 + bolt n.1 10b] North American a piece of wood prepared for being made into barrel staves.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > undressed trunk or log > types of
butt log1779
upper1877
stave bolt1878
sinker1884
teak log1889
peeler1935
1857 Ohio Farmer 11 Apr. 57/7 They..cut off three feet of the butt [of the oak tree]..and split it off into pieces like stave bolts.
1878 Lumberman's Gaz. 26 Jan. 67/1 Large quantities of stave bolts are being hauled in.
1910 J. B. Wagner Cooperage 200 In some mills the log, instead of first being cut into blocks of the proper length and then quartered into stave bolts, is first sawn into cants.
2010 D. N. Bird et al. Rev. existing Methods Carbon Accounting (Center Internat. Forestry Res.) p. vi. Shingle bolts and stave bolts are included.
stave-built adj. constructed using staves (in senses 4a and 4c).
Π
1852 C. Anderson Jrnl. 29 June in Eight Weeks' Jrnl. in Norway (1853) 21 Rainy morning; went and saw the church, stave-built, cruciform, with spire.
1904 Canad. Patent Office Rec. 41 3436/2 A pipe coupling for stave built wire wound pipes.
1940 Irish Naturalists' Jrnl. 7 283 Chairs of coiled straw and derived forms in wood (whether made from a hollowed log or stave-built).
2004 K. Wolf Daily Life of Vikings 73 Some of the houses were constructed of horizontal planking; others were stave built with vertical planking.
2018 Archaeology Ireland 32 16/1 As well as a number of stave-built wooden vessels of different sizes we also found over 50 small pine discs.
stave mill n. North American a factory in which wood is cut to form barrel staves.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > place where specific things are made > [noun] > casks > part of
stave mill1834
1834 Christian Intelligencer & Eastern Chron. 11 Apr. 59/2 The Stave Mill..was destroyed by fire.
1968 E. R. Buckler Ox Bells & Fireflies vi. 102 If there was urgent need of ready money..you worked off and on in the stave mill.
2018 Richmond (Va.) Times Disp. (Nexis) 25 June 8 a The stave mill will produce the narrow strips of oak used to make the barrels.
stave rhyme n. (originally) Germanic alliterative verse; the metre characteristic of this; (later) alliteration as a poetic or rhetorical device; (also) an example of this; an alliterating word or element. Cf. sense 13. [After German Stabreim alliteration (1819 or earlier) < Stab staff n.1 + Reim rhyme n., itself after Old Icelandic stafr in sense ‘alliterating sound’ (see main etymology section). Compare Dutch stafrijm (1836 or earlier), Swedish stavrim (1878), Danish stavrim (1850), Icelandic stafrím (1896 or earlier), all after German.]
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > alliteration > [noun]
alliteration1624
stave-rhyme1888
1858 F. Metcalfe Hist. German Lit. 15 This form of verse, in which rhyme, properly so called, was unknown, was called alliterative or stave rhyme, from the three staves on which the line rested.
1859 L. G. Nilsson Specimens of King Alfred's Prov. 1 The metre..is the Old Northern stave-rhyme, common to most English poetry down to the close of the middle-age.
1888 Academy 14 Jan. 27/1 The law of the alliterative verse does not require us to adopt the reading of the Dublin MS., as three stave-rimes are a sufficient number for a line.
1976 PMLA 91 820/1 Luther imprints his slogans on our mind not with end rhyme..so often as with stave rhyme, a Germanic device.
2000 Jrnl. Asian Stud. 59 730 The line-initial and internal alliteration or stave rhyme of the verses embedded in the prose of the original.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > system of writing > alphabet > [noun]
staff-rewOE
abecedariumOE
ABCc1325
alphabet?a1475
character1569
abecedary1596
one's P's and Q's1763
characteristic1769
staverow1866
1865 G. Stephens in Notes & Queries 11 Nov. 403/1 As in the Greek stave-row.
1866 G. Stephens Old-Northern Runic Monuments I. i. p. x These particular staves died out, and assumed other forms in the later Runic staverow.
1925 Courier (Dundee) 10 Dec. (2nd ed.) 4/2 New characters were gradually being brought in to replace some of those which had been used in the older and richer Old-Northern stave-row, which had been discarded.
stave wood n. (a) any of several tropical or subtropical trees having wood suitable for making staves for casks or barrels (now rare); (b) wood, or a type of wood, used for this purpose.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular timber trees or shrubs > [noun] > names applied to various types of trees or shrubs
whitewood1562
yellowwood1583
lightwood1597
redwood1693
hoop-wood1756
stave-wood1778
whistle-wood1825
whip-cropa1850
pepperwood1858
white tree1863
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood of specific trees > [noun] > wood of other specific trees
thornc1330
poplara1450
asp1551
angelin1670
dogwood1670
serpent-wood1681
locust wood1742
canarium1776
stave-wood1778
lacewood1803
Canary wood1820
chestnut1823
brier-wood1868
jasmine-wood1870
angelique1873
sakura1911
1790 W. Wright in Trans. Royal Soc. Edinb. 2 ii. i. x. 76 Quassia Simaruba... This tree is known in Jamaica by the names of Mountain Damson, Bitter Damson and Stave-wood.
1805 J. J. Oddy European Commerce 80 (table) Stave-wood. 14,135 [pieces]. 51,775 [rubles].
1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Native Plants Austral. 542 Flindersia Schottiana..Stavewood.
1897 Timehri 11 174 Being split into small pieces exposed a relatively large surface of the stave wood to the solvent action of the alcohol.
1938 C. T. White Princ. Bot. Queensland Farmers 212 Tarrietia (Booyongs, Tulip Oaks or Stave Woods).
1943 Pop. Mech. Jan. 12/2 But coopers throughout the country have leaped back to action using nonstrategic stave woods.
2008 J. W. Haeger Pacific Pinot Noir 93/1 After pressing, the new wine spends eighteen months in 100-percent new François Frères barrels, all coopered from stave wood air dried for three years, harvested from the Bertranges forest.
2012 D. Stone Walks, Tracks & Trails New S. Wales 3/1 Native to north-eastern NSW and eastern Queensland, is a tree known by many names: white booyong..; stavewood and black stavewood.
Derivatives
ΚΠ
1659 G. Torriano Florio's Vocabolario Italiano & Inglese A-fusóne, adv., made stave-wise, staved.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2022).
† staven.2
Obsolete. rare.
? The stem of a ship.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > either extremity of vessel > [noun]
stemOE
stavea1400
chase1622
a1400 Coer de L. 64 All it [a ship] was whyt of huel-bon, And every nayl with gold begrave: Off pure gold was the stave.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
staven.3
/steɪv/, U.S. /steɪv/ northern.
1. A crushing blow, a heavy stroke.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific degree of force > [noun] > striking heavily > a heavy blow
smitea1200
ponder1339
clouta1400
whopc1440
routa1450
maul1481
sousec1500
dunta1522
flake1559
lambskin1573
lamback1592
daud1596
baster1600
mell1658
thumper1682
lounder1723
smash1725
plumper1756
spanker1772
douser1782
thud1787
bash1805
stave1819
batter1823
belter1823
wallop1823
whacker1823
belt1825
smasher1829
dingbat1843
dinger1845
oner1861
squeaker1877
clod1886
wham1923
dong1941
1819 J. Rennie St. Patrick I. xv. 220 Our bit curragh's no that rackle sin it got a stave..on the Partan-rock.
1867 J. P. Morris T'Lebby Beck Dobby 5 T'roof fair rang again wi' sic like staves as thissan.
2. A sprain. Scottish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > disorders affecting muscles > [noun] > sprain or strain
wrench1530
strain1558
sprain1601
wrest1616
wramp1669
spraining1673
rax1790
rick1813
wrick1831
twist1864
stave1900
pull1923
1900 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 5 May 1076/2 The so-called ‘stave of thumb,’ or Bennett's fracture.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
stavev.
/steɪv/, U.S. /steɪv/ 1. figurative.1700 J. Dryden Fables Pref. sig. *Aij If the Searchers find any [irreverent expressions, etc.] in the Cargo, let them be stav'd or forfeited, like Counterbanded Goods.
a. transitive. To break up (a cask) into staves; to break into and let out the contents.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (transitive)] > break up a cask
stavec1595
c1595 Capt. Wyatt in G. F. Warner Voy. R. Dudley to W. Indies (1899) 10 A bark..beinge forst to cast overborde all..theire fish and to stave theire caske in the whiche theire fresh water was.
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ii. 9 They..staue the Caske to make more roome.
1679 London Gaz. No. 1433/4 Yesterday 7 Hogsheads of French wine..were publickly staved by the Officers of the Custom House.
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker II. 6 In an action at law, laid against a carman for having staved a cask of port.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge lxvii. 330 They..could see them..broaching the casks, staving the great vats,.. and lying down to drink at the channels of strong spirits.
b. To destroy (wine, etc.) by breaking up the cask.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (transitive)] > break up a cask > destroy wine by breaking cask
stave1615
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey (1621) i. 66 Diuers times all the wine in the Citie hath bene staued.
1633 T. James Strange Voy. 32 I made all the water in hold to be stau'd: and set some to the pumpes to pumpe it out.
1694 L. Echard tr. Plautus Rudens ii. iv, in tr. Plautus Comedies 168 He's a plaguy hard custom-master and staves all prohibited goods.
1733 P. Lindsay Interest Scotl. 139 That all seiz'd Brandies should be either staved or exported.
1759 Ann. Reg. 1758 85/1 They..stove all the beer in the cellar.
1769 Ann. Reg. 1768 33/1 Wine was forbid..; and all those who were possessed of any quantities of it were obliged to stave it.
1827 R. Southey Hist. Peninsular War II. 310 They had..staved all the liquor which they could not drink.
c. intransitive. Of a barrel: To fall to pieces. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (intransitive)] > collapse or be demolished
to-fallc893
to-reosea900
tipc1400
to go together1549
to come downa1552
demolish1610
coincide1673
collapse1732
stave1797
1797 A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl IV. i. 32 One fair day the old barrel staved, over her poor dear tiped, and broke his neck.
2.
a. transitive. To break a hole in (a boat); to break to pieces; also, to break (a hole in a boat). to stave in, to crush inwards, make a hole in.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > shipwreck > cause to suffer shipwreck [verb (transitive)] > stave in
bouge1485
bulge1570
bulch1577
bilge1589
billage1627
stavea1665
stove1820
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > making holes or becoming holed > make (an opening or hole) [verb (transitive)] > make an opening or hole in or into > by breaking or crushing
to stave in1748
a1665 K. Digby Jrnl. Voy. to Mediterranean (1868) 65 The man swimming well he saued himselfe with much difficultie, the boate being staued in many peeces.
1668 London Gaz. No. 324/1 The 17th instant was driven on shoar..a vessel..where by the violence of the winds and waves, she was staved to pieces.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 307 The first Thing we had to do, was to stave the Boat..and..leave her so far useless as not to be fit to swim.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson i. viii. 81 A sea..stove in the quarter gallery, and rushed into the ship like a deluge.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. v. 334 The loss of our long-boat, which was staved against our poop,..put us to great inconveniencies.
1777 J. Cook Jrnl. (1967) III. i There was no landing at either unless at the risk of having our boats..staved to pieces.
1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto II xlviii. 143 The other boats, the yawl and pinnace, had Been stove in the beginning of the gale.
1823 W. Scoresby Jrnl. Voy. Northern Whale-fishery 458 Our ship was driven against the corner of a floe, and her starboard-bow completely stove.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. xi. 140 He was forced to place sentries in the chains with cold shot, to stave the boats if they came alongside.
1884 Manch. Examiner 7 Oct. 5/1 The captain..ordered the boats to be lowered, but the sea stove in two of them.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 496 C...fetches up on a floating stump in the river, and staves a hole you could put your head in, in the bow of the said canoe.
b. intransitive for reflexive of a boat: To break up; hence transitive to break a hole in.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > shipwreck > suffer shipwreck [verb (intransitive)] > break up (of ship)
bursta1513
split1613
stave1743
1743 J. Bulkeley & J. Cummins Voy. to South-seas 147 Otherwise she must have stove to pieces, the Ground being very foul.
1794 J. Morse Amer. Geogr. 71 During the storm, one of the Indian canoes stove, and became unfit for service.
1820 J. Oxley Jrnls. Two Exped. New S. Wales 225 The large boat struck on a sharp rock, and with such violence as to stave her bottom.
1841 H. W. Longfellow Wreck of Hesperus in Boston Bk. (ed. 3) 76 Like a vessel of glass, she stove and sank.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xxvi. 264 The Hope stove her bottom.
3. transferred trans. To burst in, crush inwards. Chiefly with in.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (transitive)] > break in or through
founderc1330
perbreak?a1400
stave1716
cave1857
to beat in1869
1716 B. Church Entertaining Passages Philip's War i. 6 There Philip had staved all his Drums, and conveyed all his Canoo's to the East-side of Metapoiset-River.
1753 Scots Mag. Mar. 109/1 To break open and stave trunks and chests.
1822 A. Clarke in Life (1834) x. 253 I found two of the maids..pushing..against the shutters, as the windows themselves had been stove in by the tempest.
1861 A. Trollope Orley Farm (1862) I. xxix. 228 He had..broken his right arm which had been twisted under him as the horse rolled, and two of his ribs had been staved in by the pommel of his saddle.
1862 J. H. Burton Book-hunter (1863) 327 The doors staved in, the wainscoating pulled down.
1879 J. D. Long tr. Virgil Æneid x. 557 He staves The face of Thoas with a rock—a mass Of bones and blood and brains outspattering.
4. To renew the staves of (a bucket); to put together the staves of (a cask, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > cask-making > make casks [verb (transitive)] > specific processes
formake1480
truss1535
stave1627
flag1757
howel1847
croze1850
chime1880
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. viii. 36 The Cooper is..to staue or repaire the buckets.
1842 R. Browning Pied Piper of Hamelin in Bells & Pomegranates No. III: Dramatic Lyrics vii A bulky sugar-puncheon, All ready staved.
5. To fit with a staff or handle.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > making tools, equipment, or fastenings > make tools, equipment, or fastenings [verb (transitive)] > furnish tool with handle
haftc1430
helvec1440
stave1542
steal1543
handle1600
shaft1611
stouk1686
tree1864
1542 in Hist. MSS Comm.: MSS Duke of Rutland (1905) IV. 335 in Parl. Papers (Cd. 2606) LXIII. 301 Item payd..for the mackyng off leyden malles for archers, the yerne warcke, the lede and casteng, with the staweng off them at [blank] the pece.
1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Alberáre,..to shaft or stave any weapon as a holberd.
6.
a. To drive off or beat with a staff or stave; esp. in to stave off, to beat off (a dog in Bear- or Bull- baiting; also transferred a human combatant); to keep back (a crowd). Now only archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > impel or drive [verb (transitive)] > impel or drive animates > with blows
beatc1384
whip1587
stave1633
skelp1824
to flail along1888
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > causing to go away > command to go away [verb (transitive)] > drive away > with a stick
stave1633
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific thing > strike with specific thing [verb (transitive)] > strike with an object > with a stick or pole
stave1633
pole1687
stick1937
1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (ii. 4) 521 He is like an old bitten curre, that being fleshed to the game, will not be stav'd off.
a1639 T. Dekker et al. Witch of Edmonton (1658) v. i. 56 But you must play fair, you should be stav'd off else.
1658 tr. J. Ussher Ann. World 717 He went abroad with the rods..and staving the young gamsters when they had contended as long as he thought good, parted them.
1671 tr. R. Fréjus Relation Voy. Mauritania 73 Others, who with Clubs, and other weapons in their hands, staved off the Croud of People.
1820 W. Scott Monastery III. xii. 345 ‘Stave the miller off him,’ said Moray, ‘or he will worry him dead.’
1875 Ld. Tennyson Queen Mary i. iii. 16 Stave off the crowd upon the Spaniard there.
b. figurative and in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hindering completely or preventing > hinder completely or prevent [verb (transitive)] > from an action, purpose, etc.
warnc888
withseta1330
defendc1330
conclude1382
privea1387
retainc1415
refrain1442
prohibit1483
repel1483
stop1488
sever?1507
discourage1528
seclude?1531
prevent1533
foreclose1536
lock1560
stay1560
disallow1568
intercept1576
to put bya1586
crossa1616
stave1616
prevent1620
secure1623
stave1630
riot1777
tent1781
footer1813
to stop off1891
mozz1941
1616 B. Jonson Epicœne iii. i, in Wks. I. 553 For gods sake, let's goe staue her off him [sc. Mistress Otter, from Captain Otter whom she is denouncing]... Shee'll worry him, if we helpe not in time.
a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Triumph Time i I..found him in a young Lords ear so busie..: I pulled him..; spoke unto him, His answer still was, By the Lord, sweet Lord,..Nothing could stave him off.
1627 R. Sanderson Ten Serm. 194 And as for Courage to execute iustice,..whether it be..that a faire word whistleth him off; or that a great mans letter staveth him off;..sure we are, the Magistrate too often letteth the wicked carry away the spoile, without breaking a Iaw of him.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (1 Thess. iii. 6) God stints him [the devil], and staves him off, when he would worry his poor lambs.
1649 Earl of Monmouth tr. J. F. Senault Use of Passions vi. iii. 467 Other Passions are in a perpetuall motion; and..they never fix themselves so strongly on an Object, but they may be staved off.
1884 Ld. Tennyson Becket Prol. 23 And this Becket, her father's friend, like enough staved us from her.
c. Phrase. to stave and tail: see to stave and tail at tail v.1 2. Also transferred and figurative.
ΚΠ
1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. ii. 83 Lawyers, lest the Bear defendant, And Plaintiff Dog, should make an end on't, Do stave and tail with Writs of Error, Reverse of Judgement, and Demurrer.
1668 R. L'Estrange tr. F. G. de Quevedo y Villegas Visions (1708) 68 As they were Staving and Tayling, you might have had more Manners (cry'd one) than to give such Language to your Betters.
a1697 J. Aubrey Countrey Revell ii. iii, in Brief Lives (1898) II. 334 Yesterday we Cheshire gentlemen mett at a barrell of ale at the bull-ring where we sufficiently bayted both bull and barrell; and having well dranke there, staved and tayled.
a1697 J. Aubrey Countrey Revell ii. iii, in Brief Lives (1898) II. 335 The Justice and I..parted em, and, with something more trouble then staving and tayling dog and bull.
1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward III. x. 267 They seized him, pulled him down, and would probably soon have throttled him, had not the Duke called out—‘Stave and tail!—stave and tail!—Take them off him!’
1829 W. Scott Let. 30 Jan. (1936) XI. 114 Jamie then set to staving and tailing between his father and the philosopher, and..reduced the debate to more order.
d. (See quot. 1867.)
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > other nautical operations > [verb (transitive)] > push off or away from ship
to boom off1840
stave1867
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. (at cited word) To stave off, to boom off; to push anything off with a pole.
7. figurative. Chiefly to stave off.† a. To keep (a person) away or at a distance; to repel. Obsolete.† b. To keep (a person) from (doing something); to divert from (an object, practice, or course of action). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > causing to go away > command to go away [verb (transitive)] > drive away > repel
recoil?c1225
to turn againc1330
to put awayc1350
rebukec1380
to put abacka1382
to put againa1382
again-puta1400
rebut?a1425
repeal?a1425
retroylc1425
rebatea1475
repel?a1475
repulse?a1475
to put backa1500
refel1548
revert1575
rembar1588
to beat back1593
rebeat1595
reject1603
repress1623
rambarrea1630
stave1631
refringe1692
slap-back1931
1631 F. Lenton Characterismi sig. C8v Hee aspiers sometimes to his Masters daughter, but being stau'd off there, hee choppes vpon the Chambermaid, and there stickes fast.
1636 P. Heylyn Hist. Sabbath ii. vi. 185 To allure the people thither, being before staved off by a former Synod, it was provided that [etc.].
1641 R. Greville Disc. Nature Episcopacie ii. vi. 88 Heresies distract our soules, dismember our Churches, stave off Iew and Gentile, who know not whether part to believe.
1694 R. South 12 Serm. II. 68 The Condition of a Servant staves him off to a distance; but the Gospel speaks nothing but Allurement.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hindering completely or preventing > hinder completely or prevent [verb (transitive)] > from an action, purpose, etc.
warnc888
withseta1330
defendc1330
conclude1382
privea1387
retainc1415
refrain1442
prohibit1483
repel1483
stop1488
sever?1507
discourage1528
seclude?1531
prevent1533
foreclose1536
lock1560
stay1560
disallow1568
intercept1576
to put bya1586
crossa1616
stave1616
prevent1620
secure1623
stave1630
riot1777
tent1781
footer1813
to stop off1891
mozz1941
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 329 This makes them..to put themselves under the protection of the Spaniard, the feare of whose power staves off the Duke from attempting upon that State.
a1637 B. Jonson Timber 295 in Wks. (1640) III How can they escape the contagion of the Writings, whom the virulency of the calumnies hath not stav'd off from reading.
1641 F. Quarles Enchyridion iii. xvii. (Grosart) 31/2 Divert the course of the vulgar humor, by devulging..some..novelty, which may..stave their tongues from off thy worried name.
1641 F. Quarles Enchyridion (new ed.) iii. xxviii. 32/2 If he be given to lavish Company, endeavour to stave him off with lawfull Recreations.
1646 J. Gaule Select Cases Conscience 86 And there's no staving them off their owne conceited way of Tryall.
1651 N. Bacon Contin. Hist. Disc. Govt. 46 It was the pollicy of these times..to carry a benigne aspect to the Pope, so farre onely as to stave him off from being an enemy.
1654 J. Owen Doctr. Saints Perseverance xii. §59. 297 This dread and terrour [used] for the hedging up their wayes from folly, and staving them off from any Actuall evill.
1658 P. Heylyn Stumbling-block iii. §4. 81 Enough of conscience to have staved them from the prosecution, but that they had it in design, and resolved to carry it.
1668 J. Owen Pract. Expos. 130th Psalm 111 What staves off these hungry creatures [sc. souls] from their proper food?
1684 S. E. Answer Remarks upon Dr. H. More 95 By this sharp reproof they may be the more effectually staved off from committing Idolatry.
c. To put off as importune or inopportune; to treat with evasion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > escape > escape from [verb (transitive)] > contrive to escape or evade > treat with evasion
to put by1618
to put off1630
stave1646
parry1687
to pass off1811
to stall off1819
to stand off1871
1646 J. Hall Horæ Vacivæ 4 Columbus..had beene stav'd off by severall Christian Princes, yet..He gained the assistance of the King and Queene of Castile.
a1656 J. Hales Golden Remains (1659) i. 47 God himself in the book of Psalms, staves them off with a Quid tua ut enarres mea, &c.
1680 N. Lee Cæsar Borgia iii. 35 But speak, thou stav'st me off.
1723 D. Waterland 2nd Vindic. Christ's Divinity ii. 66 But it is high Time now to come to Antiquity; which has been so long staved off, and yet must make a great part of our Discourse.
1843 A. Bethune Sc. Peasant's Fire-side 79 The poor lad was staved off from time to time, wi' ae excuse after anither, till he grew impatient.
1887 H. R. Haggard Jess xxxiv. 327 This staved the fellows off for a while.
d. To ward off (something undesirable or hurtful); to prevent the occurrence or event of; to keep back, delay. Also (rarely), to stave away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > untimeliness > delay or postponement > delay [verb (transitive)]
forslowc888
eldc897
forsita940
gele971
lengOE
drilla1300
delayc1300
onfrestc1300
tarryc1320
jornc1330
dretchc1380
defer1382
forbida1387
to put offa1387
to put (also set) (something) in (or on) delaya1393
dilate1399
fordrawa1400
to put overc1410
latch?c1422
adjournc1425
prolongc1425
proloynec1425
rejournc1425
to put in respite1428
sleuthc1430
respitea1450
prorogue1453
refer1466
sleep1470
supersede1482
respectc1487
postpone1496
overseta1500
respett1500
enjourna1513
relong1523
retract1524
tarde1524
track1524
to fode forth1525
tract1527
protract1528
further1529
to make stay of1530
surcease1530
prorogate1534
to fay upon longc1540
linger1543
retard?1543
slake1544
procrastine1548
reprieve1548
remit1550
suspense1556
leave1559
shiftc1562
suspend1566
procrastinate1569
dally1574
post1577
to hold off1580
drift1584
loiter1589
postpose1598
to take one's (own) timea1602
flag1602
slug1605
elong1610
belay1613
demur1613
tardya1616
to hang up1623
frist1637
disjourn1642
future1642
off1642
waive1653
superannuate1655
perendinate1656
stave1664
detard1675
remora1686
to put back1718
withhold1726
protract1737
to keep over1847
to hold over1853
laten1860
to lay over1885
hold1891
back-burner1975
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hindering completely or preventing > hinder completely or prevent [verb (transitive)] > obviate > prevent the occurrence of or avert
werec925
withsitc1300
shun1338
to turn awaya1382
forfend1382
declinec1430
stopa1538
divert1548
refract1563
withturn1563
antevert1583
avert1586
pervert1594
deprive1627
averruncate1663
stave1664
to stop off1891
1664 J. Wilson Cheats v. iii. 69 Had you but mist me now, I should have ventur'd that, and perhaps stav'd, That misery, which alwayes follows rashness.
1664 J. Wilson Andronicus Comnenius ii. iii 'Tis seal'd, and done: Nor shall the fate, or fortune of the Empire Stave it off longer.
1684 tr. T. Bonet Guide Pract. Physician vi. 170 The Powder being given again, the fit is staved off.
1691 A. Gavin Frauds Romish Monks 397 They..earnestly entreated him, to make use of all his Credit with the Pope, to stave off this fatal Blow from them.
1759 Ann. Reg. 1758 6/2 New methods were devised, which might stave off the entire ruin of their finances.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. vi. iv. 386 Insurrection will come; but likewise will it not be met? Staved off, one may hope, till Brunswick arrive?
1849 W. Irving Oliver Goldsmith (rev. ed.) xxxii. 278 He had obtained an advance of money from Newbery to stave off some pressing debts.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 64 But Enid..answer'd with such craft as women use, Guilty or guiltless, to stave off a chance That breaks upon them perilously.
1865 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia VI. xx. vii. 194 One huge peril handsomely staved away, though so many others impend.
1879 W. H. Dixon Royal Windsor III. xxiii. 231 A little fish sufficed to stave off hunger.
1884 R. W. Church Bacon vi. 129 The proposed conference was staved off by management for a day or two; but it could not be averted.
8. intransitive. To fight with staves.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > fencing > fencing or exercise with sticks or cudgels > fence with sticks or cudgels [verb (intransitive)]
stave1663
to play a good stick?a1800
cudgel1840
single-stick1900
1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. iii. 170 He..stav'd it out, Disdaining to lay down his Arms.
9. transitive. To drive with a heavy blow. U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > impel or drive [verb (transitive)] > by impact or force > by striking or beating
smitec1330
swapa1375
inbeatc1420
possa1425
rushc1440
strike1450
ram1519
pash1530
thwack1566
whip1567
thump1596
lash1597
knocka1616
switcha1625
to knock down1653
to knock in1669
stave1837
whip1868
slog1884
to beat down-
1837 Knickerbocker Nov. 408 in R. H. Thornton Amer. Gloss. (1912) [He had] stove two of his front teeth down his throat.
1838 J. C. Neal Charcoal Sketches 37 I'll stave my fist right through you, and carry you on my elbow, as easily as if you were an empty market basket.
10. intransitive. To go with a rush or dash; to ‘drive’. Scottish and U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swift movement in specific manner > move swiftly in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > move swiftly and violently
driveeOE
fallOE
reseOE
routOE
rashOE
swip?c1225
weothec1275
startlec1300
lushc1330
swapc1386
brusha1400
spurna1400
buschc1400
frushc1400
rushc1405
rushle1553
rouse1582
hurl1609
powder1632
slash1689
stave1819
tilt1831
bulge1834
smash1835
storm1837
stream1847
ripsnort1932
slam1973
1819 J. Rennie St. Patrick III. xi. 265 The puir lads..ha'e been a' night stavin' at ane anither, and struislin' i' the dark.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan II. xxiii. 303 ‘Hold in!’..cried out a long, slab-sided Virginian, as our adventurers went, staving through Broadway, in Mr. Ashley's go-cart.
1836 Public Ledger (Philadelphia) 5 Oct. in R. H. Thornton Amer. Gloss. (1912) He stove about in every direction, like a mad bull.
1880 ‘M. Twain’ Tramp Abroad ii Other pedestrians went staving by us with vigorous strides.
1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped xxvi. 260 If we seek to creep round..it's..there that they'll be looking to lay hands on us. But if we stave on straight to the auld Brig' of Stirling, I'll lay my sword they let us pass unchallenged.
1894 P. H. Hunter James Inwick (1900) iii. 37 He was staivin doon the street.
11.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
a. Forging. To thicken (bar-iron) by heating and hammering, to upset v.; also to stave up. Also absol.
b. intransitive. Of the iron: To undergo staving; also to stave up.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > iron > actions of iron [verb (intransitive)] > be forged in specific way
stave1906
1906 J. Watson Tables for Blacksm. & Forgers Pref. The information required is generally about allowances for staving and drawing down.
1906 J. Watson Tables for Blacksm. & Forgers 9 To stave up out of a bar 6″ wide by 4″ thick a part 7″ wide by 4½″ thick by 9″ long.
1906 J. Watson Tables for Blacksm. & Forgers 9 So that 12″ long of 6″ wide by 4″ thick staves up to 9″ long of 7″ wide by 4½″ thick.
1906 J. Watson Tables for Blacksm. & Forgers 15 A 4″ diameter bar is to have a length of 2″ at 5″ diameter staved on one end, and a part drawn down to 3¼″ diameter by 10″ long.
1906 J. Watson Tables for Blacksm. & Forgers 23 A bar 11/ 4″ round is to be staved to 11/ 4″ square by 11/ 2″ long: what length of 11/ 4″ round is required?
c. transferred. (See quot. 1850.)
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > conducting of water, etc., by channels or pipes > plumbing and pipework > [verb (transitive)] > join or secure pipes
stave1850
welt1888
tack1895
tee1908
1850 J. Ogilvie Imperial Dict. , Stave, v...6. To make firm by compression. The term is applied to the compressing of lead by a hammer or a blunt chisel, after it has been run in to secure a joining, such as the socket joints of pipes.
12. To sprain (one's thumb, etc.) Scottish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > disorders affecting muscles > affect with muscular disorder [verb (transitive)] > sprain or strain
wrench1530
wrestc1550
strain1612
sprain1622
wrincha1625
rick1638
subluxate1743
turn1758
throw1790
wramp1808
vert1883
stave1887
crink1888
wrick1904
pull1908
1887 D. Donaldson Jamieson's Sc. Dict. Suppl. 228/1 He steved his wrist and staved my thumb.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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