1. (n.) One 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; esp., one of the strips which form the sides of a cask, a pail, etc.

2. (n.) One of the cylindrical bars of a lantern wheel; one of the bars or rounds of a rack, a ladder, etc.

3. (n.) A metrical portion; a stanza; a staff.

4. (n.) The five horizontal and parallel lines on and between which musical notes are written or pointed; the staff.

5. (n.) 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.

6. (n.) To push, as with a staff; -- with off.

7. (n.) To delay by force or craft; to drive away; -- usually with off; as, to stave off the execution of a project.

8. (n.) To suffer, or cause, to be lost by breaking the cask.

9. (n.) To furnish with staves or rundles.

10. (n.) 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.

11. (v. i.) To burst in pieces by striking against something; to dash into fragments.

Malacca cane Spenserian stanza advocate alpenstock antistrophe arm athletic supporter back backbone backing bandeau bar bar line barrel baton beam bearer billet board boarding book bra brace bracer bracket brassiere bucket bullet burden buttress cane canto carrier cervix chorus clapboard cord cordwood corset couplet crook crosier cross cross-staff crutch crutch-stick deal degree distich doorstep driftwood envoi epode firewood footrest footstep foundation garment fulcrum girdle guy guywire handstaff hardwood haste hasten heptastich hexastich highball hotfoot hustle jock jockstrap lath lathing lathwork ledger line line lituus log lumber mainstay maintainer mast measure monostich neck octastich octave octet ottava rima panelboard paneling panelwork pastoral staff paterissa pentastich plank planking plyboard plywood pole post prop puncheon quarterstaff quatrain refrain reinforce reinforcement reinforcer rest resting place rhyme royal rigging riser round rundle rung scale septet sestet sextet shake sheathing sheathing board sheeting shillelagh shingle shoulder shroud sideboard siding slab slat softwood space spine splat spoke sprit staff stair standing rigging stanza stay step step stool stepping-stone stick stick of wood stiffener stovewood strain strengthener string strophe support supporter sustainer swagger stick swanking stick syllable tercet terza rima tetrastich three-by-four timber timbering timberwork tread triplet tristich two-by-four upholder verse walking stick weatherboard wood