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Antonyms for stave


Grammar : Verb
Spell : steyv
Phonetic Transcription : steɪv



Definition of stave

Origin :
  • "piece of a barrel," 1750, back-formation from staves (late 14c.), plural of staff (cf. leaves/leaf), possibly from Old English, but not recorded there. The verb (to stave in, past tense stove) is 1590s, originally nautical, on notion of bashing in the staves of a cask and letting out the contents; stave off (1620s) is literally "keep off with a staff," as of dogs.
  • verb prevent
Example sentences :
  • Here is Arnold of Sowley will troll as good a stave as any man in the Company.
  • Extract from : « The White Company » by Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Somehow, he had hoped that his father and his friends might have been able to stave off ruin.
  • Extract from : « Tom Swift and his Electric Runabout » by Victor Appleton
  • And she remembered her own passionate attempts to stave off despair by work.
  • Extract from : « A Spirit in Prison » by Robert Hichens
  • If I could stave off poverty no real harm could come to my child.
  • Extract from : « The Woman Thou Gavest Me » by Hall Caine
  • Jack answered by a graceful flourish of his hands, and a stave of another song.
  • Extract from : « Clare Avery » by Emily Sarah Holt
  • And how futile a thing it was to stave off discovery for a single day!
  • Extract from : « Young Mr. Barter's Repentance » by David Christie Murray
  • And sang a stave and drained a quart and called aloud for more.
  • Extract from : « Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, January 28, 1914 » by Various
  • Captain Long was working to stave off the impending disaster.
  • Extract from : « Young Glory and the Spanish Cruiser » by Walter Fenton Mott
  • "I guess I can stave him off if he does," added Richard, confidently.
  • Extract from : « In School and Out » by Oliver Optic
  • It might be easy to stave them off till Mr. Bertram should be under the ground; but then—what then?
  • Extract from : « The Bertrams » by Anthony Trollope

Synonyms for stave

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019