a group of persons, as employees, charged with carrying out the work of an establishment or executing some undertaking.
2.
a group of assistants to a manager, superintendent, or executive.
3.
a member of a staff.
4.
Military.
a.
a body of officers without command authority, appointed to assist a commanding officer.
b.
the parts of any army concerned with administrative matters, planning, etc., rather than with actual participation in combat.
5.
those members of an organization serving only in an auxiliary or advisory capacity on a given project. Compare line1(def. 38).
6.
a stick, pole, or rod for aid in walking or climbing, for use as a weapon, etc.
7.
a rod or wand serving as a symbol of office or authority, as a crozier, baton, truncheon, or mace.
8.
a pole on which a flag is hung or displayed.
9.
something that supports or sustains.
10.
Also, stave.Music. a set of horizontal lines, now five in number, with the corresponding four spaces between them, on which music is written.
11.
Archaic. the shaft of a spear, lance, etc.
–adjective
12.
of or pertaining to a military or organizational staff: a staff officer; staff meetings.
13.
(of a professional person) employed on the staff of a corporation, publication, institution, or the like rather than being self-employed or practicing privately: a staff writer; staff physicians at the hospital.
–verb (used with object)
14.
to provide with a staff of assistants or workers: She staffed her office with excellent secretaries.
15.
to serve on the staff of.
16.
to send to a staff for study or further work (often fol. by out): The White House will staff out the recommendations before making a decision.
–verb (used without object)
17.
to hire employees, as for a new office or project (sometimes fol. by up): Next month we'll begin staffing up for the reelection campaign.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME staf (n.), OE stæf; c. D staf, G Stab, ON stafr staff, Skt stabh- support]
A stick or cane carried as an aid in walking or climbing.
A stout stick used as a weapon; a cudgel.
A pole on which a flag is displayed; a flagstaff.
A rod or baton carried as a symbol of authority.
A group of assistants to a manager, executive, or other person in authority.
A group of military officers assigned to assist a commanding officer in an executive or advisory capacity.
The personnel who carry out a specific enterprise: the nursing staff of a hospital.
pl.staffs A rule or similar graduated stick used for testing or measuring, as in surveying.
pl.staffs
A group of assistants to a manager, executive, or other person in authority.
A group of military officers assigned to assist a commanding officer in an executive or advisory capacity.
The personnel who carry out a specific enterprise: the nursing staff of a hospital.
Something that serves as a staple or support.
Music A set of horizontal lines and intermediate spaces used in notation to represent a sequence of pitches, in modern notation normally consisting of five lines and four spaces. Also called stave.
staff 2Audio Help (stāf) Pronunciation Key
n.
A building material of plaster and fiber used as an exterior wall covering of temporary buildings, as at expositions.
O.E. stæf "walking stick, strong pole used for carrying, rod used as a weapon" (also, in plural, "letter, character, writing," cf. stæfcræft "grammar"), from P.Gmc. *stabaz (cf. O.S. staf, O.N. stafr, O.Fris. stef, M.L.G., M.Du. staf, O.H.G. stab, Ger. Stab, Goth. *stafs "element;" M.Du. stapel "pillar, foundation"), from PIE base *stebh- "post, stem, to support, place firmly on, fasten" (cf. O.Lith. stabas "idol," Lith. stebas "staff, pillar;" O.C.S. stoboru "pillar;" Skt. stabhnati "supports;" Gk. stephein "to tie around, encircle, wreathe," staphyle "grapevine, bunch of grapes;" O.E. stapol "post, pillar"). Sense of "group of military officers that assists a commander" is attested from 1702, apparently from Ger., from the notion of the "baton" that is a badge of office or authority (a sense attested in Eng. from 1535). Meaning "group of employees (as at an office or hospital)" is first found 1837. The verb meaning "to provide with a staff of assistants" is from 1859. Staff of life "bread" is from the Biblical phrase "to break the staff of bread" (Lev. xxvi.26), transl. Heb. matteh lekhem.
personnel who assist their superior in carrying out an assigned task; "the hospital has an excellent nursing staff"; "the general relied on his staff to make routine decisions"
2.
a strong rod or stick with a specialized utilitarian purpose; "he walked with the help of a wooden staff"
3.
the body of teachers and administrators at a school; "the dean addressed the letter to the entire staff of the university"
4.
building material consisting of plaster and hair; used to cover external surfaces of temporary structure (as at an exposition) or for decoration
5.
a rod carried as a symbol
6.
(music) the system of five horizontal lines on which the musical notes are written
verb
1.
provide with staff; "This position is not always staffed"
2.
serve on the staff of; "The two men staff the reception desk"
Dis"taff\, n.; pl. Distaffs, rarely Distaves. [OE. distaf, dysestafe, AS. distaef; cf. LG. diesse the bunch of flax on a distaff, and E. dizen. See Staff.]1. The staff for holding a bunch of flax, tow, or wool, from which the thread is drawn in spinning by hand. I will the distaff hold; come thou and spin. --Fairfax. 2. Used as a symbol of the holder of a distaff; hence, a woman; women, collectively. His crown usurped, a distaff on the throne. --Dryden. Some say the crozier, some say the distaff was too busy. --Howell. Note: The plural is regular, but Distaves occurs in Beaumont & Fletcher. Descent by distaff, descent on the mother's side. Distaff Day, or Distaff's Day, the morrow of the Epiphany, that is, January 7, because working at the distaff was then resumed, after the Christmas festival; -- called also Rock Day, a distaff being called a rock. --Shipley.
Ja"cob\, n. [Cf. F. Jacob. See 2d Jack.] A Hebrew patriarch (son of Isaac, and ancestor of the Jews), who in a vision saw a ladder reaching up to heaven (--Gen. xxviii. 12); -- also called Israel. And Jacob said . . . with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. --Gen. xxxii. 9, 10. Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel. --Gen. xxxii. 28. Jacob's ladder. (a) (Bot.) A perennial herb of the genus Polemonium (P. c[oe]ruleum), having corymbs of drooping flowers, usually blue. Gray. (b) (Naut.) A rope ladder, with wooden steps, for going aloft. --R. H. Dana, Jr. (c) (Naut.) A succession of short cracks in a defective spar. Jacob's membrane. See Retina. Jacob's staff. (a) A name given to many forms of staff or weapon, especially in the Middle Ages; a pilgrim's staff. [Obs.] --Spenser. (b) (Surveying) See under Staff.
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Audio Help [staf, stahf] Pronunciation Key, noun, plural staffs for 1–5, 9; staves 
