stave

[steyv] /steɪv/
noun
1.
one of the thin, narrow, shaped pieces of wood that form the sides of a cask, tub, or similar vessel.
2.
a stick, rod, pole, or the like.
3.
a rung of a ladder, chair, etc.
4.
Prosody.
  1. a verse or stanza of a poem or song.
  2. the alliterating sound in a line of verse, as the w- sound in wind in the willows.
5.
Music. staff1 (def 9).
verb (used with object), staved or stove, staving.
6.
to break in a stave or staves of (a cask or barrel) so as to release the wine, liquor, or other contents.
7.
to release (wine, liquor, etc.) by breaking the cask or barrel.
8.
to break or crush (something) inward (often followed by in).
9.
to break (a hole) in, especially in the hull of a boat.
10.
to break to pieces; splinter; smash.
11.
to furnish with a stave or staves.
12.
to beat with a stave or staff.
verb (used without object), staved or stove, staving.
13.
to become staved in, as a boat; break in or up.
14.
to move along rapidly.
Verb phrases
15.
stave off,
  1. to put, ward, or keep off, as by force or evasion.
  2. to prevent in time; forestall:
    He wasn't able to stave off bankruptcy.
Origin
1125-75; (noun) Middle English, back formation from staves; (v.) derivative of the noun
Related forms
unstaved, adjective
Synonyms
4. See verse.
Examples from the web for stave
  • For years, green tea has been believed by some to lower cholesterol, prevent rheumatoid arthritis and even stave off cancer.
  • Newspapers have tried many things to stave off a seemingly relentless decline in readers.
  • But this might be too late to stave off a fire sale.
  • Regular meditation may increase smarts and stave off aging, according to an ongoing study.
  • Researchers stave off premature heart failure in mice with genetic disorder.
  • Smart choices in the kitchen can help stave off heart disease.
  • We can either take action and stave off this large-scale disaster, or simply wait for it to happen.
  • Next come more antiviral pills and antibiotics to stave off infections.
  • Other vulnerable financial giants scrambled to sell themselves or raise enough capital to stave off a similar fate.
  • Energy conservation can stave off the day of reckoning, but in the end you can't conserve what you don't have.
British Dictionary definitions for stave

stave

/steɪv/
noun
1.
any one of a number of long strips of wood joined together to form a barrel, bucket, boat hull, etc
2.
any of various bars, slats, or rods, usually of wood, such as a rung of a ladder or a crosspiece bracing the legs of a chair
3.
any stick, staff, etc
4.
a stanza or verse of a poem
5.
(music)
  1. (Brit) an individual group of five lines and four spaces used in staff notation
  2. another word for staff1 (sense 9)
verb staves, staving, staved, stove
6.
(often foll by in) to break or crush (the staves of a boat, barrel, etc) or (of the staves of a boat) to be broken or crushed
7.
(transitive) usually foll by in. to burst or force (a hole in something)
8.
(transitive) to provide (a ladder, chair, etc) with a stave or staves
9.
(transitive) (Scot) to sprain (a finger, toe, etc)
Word Origin
C14: back formation from staves, plural of staff1
Word Origin and History for stave
n.

"piece of a barrel," 1750, back-formation from staves (late 14c.), plural of staff (cf. leaves/leaf), possibly from Old English, but not recorded there. The verb (to stave in, past tense stove) is 1590s, originally nautical, on notion of bashing in the staves of a cask and letting out the contents; stave off (1620s) is literally "keep off with a staff," as of dogs.