Stave Meaning
/steɪv/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounOne of a number of narrow strips of wood, or narrow iron plates, placed edge to edge to form the sides, covering, or lining of a vessel or structure; especially, one of the strips which form the sides of a cask, barrel, pail, etc.
nounOne of the bars or rounds of a rack, rungs of a ladder, etc; one of the cylindrical bars of a lantern wheel
Sentence Examples
The Fed is trying to stave off a run on the banks.
You have to get more exercise in order to stave off senility.
The supple stave slid gracefully through the opening.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He drank ginger tea to ____ off the cold that was coming.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The government tried to ____ off the economic crisis by introducing several new financial support measures.
Word Origin & History
Back-formation from staves, the plural of staff.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"For the Cherubims ſpread foorth their wings ouer the place of the Arke, and the Cherubims couered the Arke and the ſtaues thereof, aboue."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Chronicles 5:8:
"Let us chaunt a passing stave / In honour of that hero brave."
— 1815, William Wordsworth, Rob Roy's Grave:
"Ley, in his work on the Metrical Forms of Hebrew Poetry, 1866, has taken too little notice of these frequently occurring alliteration staves; Lagarde communicated to me (8th Sept. 1846) his view of the stave-rhyme in the Book[…]"
— 1874, Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon, page 73:
"[The] stave that binds the two halves of the line together the on-verse must be classified as D in spite of the f-stave . . stave-rhyme (OED s.v. Stave sb.)"
— 1974, John Collins Pope, Old English Studies in Honour of John C. Pope, page 193:
"... consisting only of the two staves, folches . . . fehta. […] Line 63 contains the two-stave rhyme, aerist ... asckim; the suggested reduplicative rhyme [...] is technically doubtful according to the standards we have[…]"
— 1975, Studies in Medieval Culture, page 11:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He drank ginger tea to ____ off the cold that was coming.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The government tried to ____ off the economic crisis by introducing several new financial support measures.