Stāff1, n.
n.; pl. STĀVES, or STĀFFS (in the first seven senses), STĀFFS (in the last two senses). [A-S. stāf, a staff, prop, stēb, a stump; O. Sax., L. Ger., & D. staf, O. Fries. stēf, Icel. stafr, Sw. staf, Dan. stav, H. Ger. stab.]
Sense 1. A long piece of wood; a stick; the long handle of an instrument or weapon; a pole or stick, used for many purposes.
With forks and staves the felon to pursue. Dryden.
Sense 2. A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a person walking; hence, a support; that which props or upholds.
The boy was the very staff of my age. Shak.
He spoke of it [beer] in “The Earnest Cry,” and likewise in the “Scotch Drink,” as one of the staffs of life which had been struck from the poor man's hand by . . . oppression. Prof. Wilson.
Sense 3. (Mus.) The five lines and the spaces on which music is written.
Sense 4. A pole or stick borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office; as, a constable's staff. Staff. (3.)
Methought this staff, mine office-badge in court, Was broke in twain. Shak.
All his officers brake their staves; but at their return new staves were delivered unto them. Hayward.
Sense 5. The round of a ladder. [Rare.]
Descending and ascending by ladders, I ascended at one of six hundred and thirty-nine staves. Brown.
Sense 6. A pole erected in a ship, or elsewhere, to hoist and display a flag upon.
Sense 7. (Surg.) The grooved director for the gorget or knife used in cutting for a stone in the bladder.
Sense 8. [From staff, as an ensign of authority and supreme command; Ger. stab, generalstab.] (Mil.) An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution. See ÉTAT-MAJOR.
Sense 9. Hence, a corps of executive officers connected with some large establishment, who act (like the military staff of an army) in carrying out its designs; as, a newspaper has its editorial and reporting staff; a department of government has its staff of clerks, paymasters, &c.
Jacob-staff (Surr.), a single straight rod or staff, pointed and iron-shod at the bottom, for penetrating the ground, and having a socket-joint at the top, used for supporting a compass instead of a tripod. — To have or keep the staff in one's own hands, to keep possession of one's property, and hence, to retain authority and control. Halliwell.