I. ˈsta]f, ]aa(ə)f, ]aif, ]ȧf noun
( plural staffs ]fs ; or staves ]vz, ˈstāvz)
Etymology: Middle English staf, from Old English stæf; akin to Old High German stab staff, Old Norse stafr staff, Gothic stabim (dative plural) elemental substances, Middle Irish sab shaft, staff, Greek stemphylon olive pulp, Sanskrit stabhnāti, stambhate he supports — more at stamp
1.
a. : a long stick carried in the hand for support in walking
stumping with his staff — Robert Browning
my signs are a rainproof coat, good shoes and a staff cut from the woods — Walt Whitman
b. : a strong usually rigid rod or bar used to hold or support something
wears a corset with steel staves and braces — Springfield (Massachusetts) Union
a number of hardwood staves, fixed crosswise — Dyestuffs
as
(1) archaic : shaft 1a(1)
(2) : a round bar that is used as a crosspiece (as in a ladder or chair) : rung
(3) : flagstaff
twisting the flag around the staff — Boy Scout Handbk.
(4) : a pivoted arbor (as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch)
(5) : a vertical bead molding at the angle between walls
c. : club , cudgel
a staff is quickly found to beat a dog — Shakespeare
d. : something that upholds or sustains : prop , support
his early successes will be the stout staff which will support him — H.H.Arnold & I.C.Eaker
2.
a. : a pole with a crook or cross that forms part of the insignia of an ecclesiastic (as a bishop)
b. : a rod carried as a symbol of office or position
staves carried by the leading men of the society — L.M.Wulcko
c. : a rod used by a magician : wand
over them a gnarled staff she shook — John Keats
d. : a small rod or other token handed to a railroad engineer as his authority to proceed over a particular section
3.
a. obsolete : stanza
let me hear a staff — Shakespeare
b. : the horizontal lines with their spaces on which music is written — called also stave ; compare clef , ledger line
c. : a set of vertical lines for the placement of dance-movement symbols — compare laban system
4. : any of various graduated sticks or rules used for measuring (as in shipbuilding, surveying) : rod
setting up gauging staves, against which the water level can be read — Geographical Journal
5. plural staffs : the personnel responsible for the functioning of an institution or the establishment or the carrying out of an assigned task under an overall director or head
put together an excellent staff to assist him in his diplomatic mission
a small staff of servants takes care of the house
is on the editorial staff of the newspaper
as
a. : the teaching and administrative personnel of an educational institution
b. : the doctors and surgeons regularly attached to a hospital and helping to determine its policies and guide its activities
c. : the personnel of an organization (as an industrial enterprise) that furnishes auxiliary and advisory services and does not participate directly in production — compare line III 6j(2), line organization
d.
(1) : the officers detailed to serve on the staff of the commander of a fleet or lesser unit
(2) : the officers (as in the United States Navy) not eligible for command at sea
e.
(1) : a group of officers in an army who assist (as by collection and analysis of information, organization of supplies and services, planning of operations) a commanding officer — see general staff , personal staff , special staff , unit staff
(2) : the noncombatant forces of an army — compare line III 6e(1)
f. : the group of officers and aides appointed to attend upon and serve as escort to a civil executive (as a president or governor)
•
- at staff's end
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to supply with a staff : provide the necessary personnel for
a large modern plant, finely housed and staffed — American Guide Series: New Hampshire
we are staffing the faculties of other institutions — McGeorge Bundy
III. adjective
1. : of, relating to, or constituting a staff
staff work
staff officers
staff personnel
2. : having an auxiliary or advisory relationship to the stated objective of an organization
the personnel department of a manufacturing concern performs a staff function
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: probably from German staffieren to trim, decorate — more at staffage
: a building material having a plaster of paris base and used in exterior wall coverings of temporary buildings
V. noun
( plural staff )
: a member of a staff
employs three full-time staff