stave

Definitions

1. 1.One of the cylindrical bars of a lantern wheel; one of the bars or rounds of a rack, a ladder, etc.
2. 2.A metrical portion; a stanza; a staff. Let us chant a passing stave In honor of that hero brave. Wordsworth.
3. 3.(Mus.) The five horizontal and parallel lines on and between which musical notes are written or pointed; the staff. [Obs.] Stave jointer, a machine for dressing the edges of staves.
4. 4.To break in a stave or the staves of; to break a hole in; to burst; -- often with in; as, to stave a cask; to stave in a boat.
5. 5.To push, as with a staff; -- with off. The condition of a servant staves him off to a distance. South.
6. 6.To delay by force or craft; to drive away; -- usually with off; as, to stave off the execution of a project. And answered with such craft as women use, Guilty or guilties, to stave off a chance That breaks upon them perilously. Tennyson.
7. 7.To suffer, or cause, to be lost by breaking the cask. All the wine in the city has been staved. Sandys.
8. 8.To furnish with staves or rundles. Knolles.
9. 9.To render impervious or solid by driving with a calking iron; as, to stave lead, or the joints of pipes into which lead has been run. To stave and tail, in bear baiting, (to stave) to interpose with the staff, doubtless to stop the bear; (to tail) to hold back the dog by the tail. Nares.
10. 10.To burst in pieces by striking against something; to dash into fragments. Like a vessel of glass she stove and sank. Longfellow.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Related questions

• What does "stave" mean?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is stave.

• What is one of the cylindrical bars of a lantern wheel; one of the bars or rounds of a rack, a ladder, etc called?
• What is a metrical portion; a stanza; a staff. Let us chant a passing stave In honor of that hero brave. Wordsworth called?
• What is the five horizontal and parallel lines on and between which musical notes are written or pointed; the staff. [Obs.] Stave jointer, a machine for dressing the edges of staves called?
• What is to break in a stave or the staves of; to break a hole in; to burst; -- often with in; as, to stave a cask; to stave in a boat called?
• What is to push, as with a staff; -- with off. The condition of a servant staves him off to a distance. South called?
• What is to suffer, or cause, to be lost by breaking the cask. All the wine in the city has been staved. Sandys called?
• What is to furnish with staves or rundles. Knolles called?
• What is to burst in pieces by striking against something; to dash into fragments. Like a vessel of glass she stove and sank. Longfellow called?