staff

[Staff]

Staff means everyone who works at a particular place. You might suspect that the town library's not a very fun place to work if its staff is always incredibly cranky every time you visit.

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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.

Noun
a strong rod or stick with a specialized utilitarian purpose; "he walked with the help of a wooden staff"

Noun
(music) the system of five horizontal lines on which the musical notes are written

Noun
a rod carried as a symbol

Noun
the body of teachers and administrators at a school; "the dean addressed the letter to the entire staff of the university"

Noun
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"

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Noun
building material consisting of plaster and hair; used to cover external surfaces of temporary structure (as at an exposition) or for decoration

Verb
provide with staff; "This position is not always staffed"

Verb
serve on the staff of; "The two men staff the reception desk"

n.
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.

n.
A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a person walking; hence, a support; that which props or upholds.

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

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

n.
The round of a ladder.

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

n.
The five lines and the spaces on which music is written; -- formerly called stave.

n.
An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.

n.
The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.

n.
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 Etat Major.

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

Staff

Staff , n.; pl. Staves ( ∨ ; 277) or Staffs in senses 1-9, Staffs in senses 10, 11. [AS. st'91f a staff; akin to LG. & D. staf, OFries stef, G. stab, Icel. stafr, Sw. staf, Dan. stav, Goth. stabs element, rudiment, Skr. sth'bepay 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.

With forks and staves the felon to pursue.

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.

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.

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.

All his officers brake their staves; but at their return new staves were delivered unto them.

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.

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.

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 '90tat 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, ∨ To put, up, ∨ down, one's staff, to take up one's residence; to lodge. [Obs.]

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.

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Usage Examples

I admired Eugene McCarthy's courage and although I left his Senate staff after four years to accept a job as the researcher on the editorial page of the 'Washington Post,' I remained an admirer.

I want to see far more decisions taken far closer to the patients, the passengers and the pupils. Far more power for locally and regionally elected politicians who understand best the needs of their areas. And far more say too for the dedicated staff at all levels in health and education.

The Body Shop Foundation is run by our staff and supports social activism and environmental activism. We don't tend to support big agencies.

My restaurants are never opened on Thanksgiving I want my staff to spend time with their family if they can. My feeling is, if I can't figure out how to make money the rest of the year so that my workers can enjoy the holidays, then I don't deserve to be an owner.

AP promoted me to the White House beat because I knew Clinton, his family, friends, and staff better than anybody in the national press corps. Those contacts helped me break a few stories and get my career in Washington jump-started.

The magazine, the daytime show, we've always tried to write affordable, accessible. Those are key words for us, and I do mean us, a huge staff of people at the magazine who love to cook affordable, friendly food that helps families eat better for less.

Money won't buy happiness, but it will pay the salaries of a large research staff to study the problem.

Misspelled Form

staff, astaff, wstaff, estaff, dstaff, xstaff, zstaff, ataff, wtaff, etaff, dtaff, xtaff, ztaff, sataff, swtaff, setaff, sdtaff, sxtaff, sztaff, srtaff, s5taff, s6taff, sytaff, sgtaff, sraff, s5aff, s6aff, syaff, sgaff, straff, st5aff, st6aff, styaff, stgaff, stqaff, stwaff, stsaff, stzaff, stqff, stwff, stsff, stzff, staqff, stawff, stasff, stazff, stadff, starff, statff, stagff, stavff, stacff, stadf, starf, statf, stagf, stavf, stacf, stafdf, stafrf, staftf, stafgf, stafvf, stafcf, stafdf, stafrf, staftf, stafgf, stafvf, stafcf, stafd, stafr, staft, stafg, stafv, stafc, staffd, staffr, stafft, staffg, staffv, staffc.

Other Usage Examples

A man of great memory without learning hath a rock and a spindle and no staff to spin.

I have been surrounded by some of the smartest, brightest, most caring lawyers, by agents who are willing to risk their lives for others, by support staff that are willing to work as hard as they can.

I worked as a lawyer as a member of the teaching staff of a technical college and then I worked principally as legal adviser to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Party.

And I'm a believer that you take a negative and turn it into a positive, and as it turned out, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. And so I do appreciate the Ranger staff and the Ranger organization for giving me that opportunity.

David was the kind of guy who was totally supportive of the actors and instructed the writing staff to trust the actor's instincts, since after all, it's the actors playing the character.

I've been trying to find women writers for my staff for a while now and I have three women on my staff and three guys so it's pretty equal. I don't know why that is. It's been the same thing for a while. It's hard for female comedians to stand out. That's weird. That's a shame.

Something I didn't even know was on my bucket list has been achieved. I have cooked Thanksgiving dinner with Martha Stewart. I vow to follow the gospel of her teachings and do my very best in the remarkably less glamorous kitchen of my own home... without the luxury of magically appearing prep bowls filled by a staff of sous chefs.