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staff
9 dictionary results for: staff
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
staff1       [staf, stahf] Pronunciation Key, noun, plural staffs for 1–5, 9; staves       [steyv] Pronunciation Key or staffs for 6–8, 10, 11; adjective, verb
–noun
1.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]

—Related forms
staffless, adjective

—Usage note See collective noun.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
staff2       [staf, stahf] Pronunciation Key,
–noun
a composition of plaster and fibrous material used for a temporary finish and in ornamental work, as on exposition buildings.
[Origin: 1890–95, Americanism; perh. < G Stoff stuff]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
staff 1       (stāf)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. staffs or staves (stāvz)
    1. A stick or cane carried as an aid in walking or climbing.
    2. A stout stick used as a weapon; a cudgel.
    3. A pole on which a flag is displayed; a flagstaff.
    4. A rod or baton carried as a symbol of authority.
    5. A group of assistants to a manager, executive, or other person in authority.
    6. A group of military officers assigned to assist a commanding officer in an executive or advisory capacity.
    7. The personnel who carry out a specific enterprise: the nursing staff of a hospital.
  2. pl. staffs A rule or similar graduated stick used for testing or measuring, as in surveying.
  3. pl. staffs
    1. A group of assistants to a manager, executive, or other person in authority.
    2. A group of military officers assigned to assist a commanding officer in an executive or advisory capacity.
    3. The personnel who carry out a specific enterprise: the nursing staff of a hospital.
  4. Something that serves as a staple or support.
  5. 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.

tr.v.   staffed, staff·ing, staffs
  1. To provide with a staff of workers or assistants.
  2. To serve on the staff of.


[Middle English staf, from Old English stæf.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
staff 2       (stāf)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   A building material of plaster and fiber used as an exterior wall covering of temporary buildings, as at expositions.


[Perhaps from German Stoff, stuff.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
staff 
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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
staff

noun
1. 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" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

staff (stāf)
n.

  1. A specific group of workers.
  2. See director.
v. staffed, staff·ing, staffs
  1. To provide with a staff of workers or assistants.
  2. To serve on the staff of.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Staff

Staff\, n. [G. staffiren to fill or fit out, adorn, fr. D. stoffeeren, OF. estoffer, F. ['e]toffer, fr. OF. estoffe stuff, F. ['e]toffe. See Stuff, n.] (Arch.) Plaster combined with fibrous and other materials so as to be suitable for sculpture in relief or in the round, or for forming flat plates or boards of considerable size which can be nailed to framework to make the exterior of a larger structure, forming joints which may afterward be repaired and concealed with fresh plaster.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Staff

Staff\, n.; pl. Staves (? or ?; 277) or Staffsin senses 1-9, Staffs in senses 10, 11. [AS. st[ae]f a staff; akin to LG. & D. staf, OFries stef, G. stab, Icel. stafr, Sw. staf, Dan. stav, Goth. stabs element, rudiment, Skr. sth[=a]pay to cause to stand, to place. See Stand, and cf. Stab, Stave, n.]

1. A long piece of wood; a stick; the long handle of an instrument or weapon; a pole or srick, used for many purposes; as, a surveyor's staff; the staff of a spear or pike.

And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar to bear it withal. --Ex. xxxviii. 7.

With forks and staves the felon to pursue. --Dryden.

2. A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a person walking; hence, a support; that which props or upholds. "Hooked staves." --Piers Plowman.

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. --Prof. Wilson.

3. A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office; as, a constable's staff.

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.

4. A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.

5. The round of a ladder. [R.]

I ascend at one [ladder] of six hundred and thirty-nine staves. --Dr. J. Campbell (E. Brown's Travels).

6. A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.

Cowley found out that no kind of staff is proper for an heroic poem, as being all too lyrical. --Dryden.

7. (Mus.) The five lines and the spaces on which music is written; -- formerly called stave.

8. (Mech.) An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.

9. (Surg.) The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.

10. [From Staff, 3, a badge of office.] (Mil.) An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of 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 ['E]tat Major.

11. Hence: A body of assistants serving to carry into effect the plans of a superintendant or manager; as, the staff of a newspaper.

Jacob's staff (Surv.), 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, instead of a tripod, for supporting a compass.

Staff angle (Arch.), a square rod of wood standing flush with the wall on each of its sides, at the external angles of plastering, to prevent their being damaged.

The staff of life, bread. "Bread is the staff of life." --Swift.

Staff tree (Bot.), any plant of the genus Celastrus, mostly climbing shrubs of the northern hemisphere. The American species (C. scandens) is commonly called bittersweet. See 2d Bittersweet, 3 (b) .

To set, or To put, up, or down, one's staff, to take up one's residence; to lodge. [Obs.]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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