[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/stave.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / stave

[← S](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/S/)

# stave

«stave» in Mova's school dictionary: **the set of five lines on which music notes are written…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a stave, staves); verb (stave, staves, staved or stove, staving; stave off, staved off)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (music, UK) A stave is the set of five lines on which music notes are written (US: staff). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/#m1)

2) A stave is one of the curved wooden strips that make the sides of a barrel or a wooden bucket. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/#m2)

3) A stave is also a strong stick or pole. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/#m3)

4) (verb) To stave off something means to stop it happening for a while: "We ate apples to stave off hunger." [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/#m4)

5) (verb) To stave in means to break a hole in something by hitting it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In music lessons pupils write notes on the stave with the treble clef. In history lessons coopers made barrels from staves. In stories and everyday speech, "stave off" is used for hunger, boredom, illness or danger. Phrases: "stave off", "treble stave", "bass stave", "stave in".

### examples

- Draw a treble clef at the start of the stave. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/#x1)
- The note sits on the second line of the stave. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/#x2)
- The cooper bent the wooden staves to make a barrel. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/#x3)
- We ate a snack to stave off hunger before the match. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/#x4)
- The team staved off defeat with a late goal. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/#x5)
- The waves staved in the side of the boat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/#x6)
- The old shepherd leaned on his stave. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/#x7)
- Then they beat their staves against the ground one against the other, as if there had been a hundred sheep between them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/#x8)

### note

Plural: staves (also the plural of "staff" in the old sense of stick). "Stave off" past: staved off. "Staff" is the US word for the music stave. "Stove in" is an old past form used for ships.

### In the corpora

- [And thou shalt make staves of acacia-wood, and overlay them with gold.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.713/)
- [And thou shalt put the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, wherewith to bear the ark.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.714/)
- [The staves shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.715/)
- [Close by the border shall the rings be, for places for the staves to bear the table.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.727/)
- [And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of acacia-wood, and overlay them with brass.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.783/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «stave» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stave/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.