staff

Meanings

Plural: staffs, staves

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"
• a strong rod or stick with a specialized utilitarian purpose
  • "he walked with the help of a wooden staff"
• the body of teachers and administrators at a school
  • "the dean addressed the letter to the entire staff of the university"
• building material consisting of plaster and hair; used to cover external surfaces of temporary structure (as at an exposition) or for decoration
• a rod carried as a symbol
• (music) the system of five horizontal lines on which the musical notes are written
• A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick, especially one used to assist in walking.
• A series of horizontal lines on which musical notes are written; a stave.
• plural of staffer
• A mixture of plaster and fibre used as a temporary exterior wall covering.ᵂ
• A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office.
• A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.
• The rung of a ladder.
• A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.
• An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.
• The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.
• 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.
• A form of token once used, in combination with a ticket, for safe train movements between two points on a single line.
• Misspelling of staph.

Verb

• provide with staff
  • "This position is not always staffed"
• serve on the staff of
  • "The two men staff the reception desk"
• To supply (a business, volunteer organization, etc.) with employees or staff members.

Synonyms

faculty, personnel, stave, stick

Related Words

baton, bludgeon, cane, club, cudgel, rod, stick, truncheon