staff 
To argue from the staff to the corner*, to raise some 
othar question tlmn that under discussion. Abp /Irtini/itttf 
Works, II. !M. (Uamet.) To break a staff. Same as 
t<i break a lance (which sec, under break). 
A puisny filter, that . . . breaks his staff like a noble 
goose. Shak., As you Like it, ill. 4. 47. 
To go to sticks and staves. See sticks. To have 
the better or worse end of the staff, to be getting 
the best or worst of a matter. 
And so now ours seem to ham the better end of the staf. 
Court and Times of Charles I., II. 94. 
To set down (or up) one's staff*, to stop and rest, as a 
traveler at an inn ; abide for a time. Rev. T. Adam* 
Works, I. 185. (/>nraej.) = Syn. 1. A staff is a substantial 
support for one who is in motion; a stay or prop would 
5887 
, , ...ing), . [ME. tttfifl'i'xh/iii/i . 
stafsUnge; < stuff + ,sVi M ,/i.] A weapon con- 
sisting of a sling com- 
bined with a short staff. 
The start' was held with both 
hands and whirled around. 
The weapon seems to have 
thrown larger missiles than 
the ordinary sling and with 
greater force. Distinguished 
from cord-sling. Also called 
fustibale, fustibalus. 
This geaunt at him stones caste 
Out of a fel staf-slinge. 
Chaucer, Sir Thopas, 1. 118. 
stick is ornamental or defensive. See definitions of crook, 
crozier, crutch^. 
staff-angle (staf'ang"gl), n. In plastering, a 
square rod of wood, standing flush with the 
wall on each of its sides, at the ex- 
ternal angles of plastering, to pro- 
tect them from injury. 
staff-bead (staf 'bed), n. In arch., an 
Same as baculite. 
staff-strikert (staf'stri'- 
ker),n. A sturdy beggar; 
a tramp. Stair-slta*. about the ,oth 
Many became staf -strikers, ""V"*;, I 1 ;""" v "":! e - 
. . . and wandered ilTparties of c S ai s - P > 
two, three, and four from vil- " a "' ;als - 
lage to village. R. Eden, quoted in Ribton-Turner's Va- 
! grants and Vagrancy, p. 53. 
stage 
rope, and //. elaphux is the stag-beetle of the I'nitcd 6 
The former is one of the largest of British beetles, distin- 
guished by the enormous size of the horny ;uul toothed 
mandibles in the male, and by tin- rather Ion;; rlbu\vr<l 
antenmc, which end in a perfuliutud club, and are com- 
posed of ten joints, the tlrst being very long. It in com- 
mon in some localities in the ndxhlKirhoiid of London, 
and is often 2 inches long, of a black color. Other species 
arc numerous in various parts of the world. See also cut 
under 1'latycerus. 
Stag-bush (stag'bush), n. The black haw, \'i- 
ItKi'itunt itriniiftfl in in . 
stag-dance (stag'daiis), . A dance performed 
by men only. [Colloq., U. S.] 
stage (stag), . [< Ml-;, stage, < OF. cx/,,,,e, es- 
IHII/I; cstauge, outage, etc., a story, floor, stage, 
a dwelling-house, F. etitye, story, stage, floor, 
loft, = Pr. estatge, a stage, = It. staggio, a stake, 
(staf'kap"tan), n. The 
British navy. 
Staff-commander (staf'ko-man // der), n. The 
second grade in the navigating branch of the 
British navy. See master*, 1 (6). 
Staff-degree (staf'de-gre*), n. In musical no- 
tation, a degree of a staff, whether line or space. 
Staff-duty (staf'du"ti), . The occupation or 
employment of an officer who serves on a staff, 
especially of one who, not originally a staff- 
officer, has been detached from his regiment, 
and attached to a staff. 
staffed (staft), o. [< staff + -e<R] 1. I n her., 
surrounded or combined with staffs: as, an an- 
nulet staffed, a ring from which staffs or scep- 
ters radiate. 2. Provided with a staff or body 
of officers; officered. [Recent.] 
A powerful church of the new type, staffed by friends 
and pupils of Pnsey, rose in the centre of K . 
Mrs. Humphry Ward, Robert Elsmere, xxxiii. 
Staffelite (staf'e-Ut), . [< Staffel (see def.) + 
-ifc 2 .] A somewhat altered apatite, occurring 
in botryoidal reniform shapes of a green color, 
inerusting the phosphorite found at Staffel, 
near the Lahn, in Prussia. 
staff-herding (staf'her"ding), n. In old Eng. 
forest law, the grazing of cattle in charge of a 
herdsman. This was restrained or forbidden as more 
injurious to the herds of deer than if there were no herds- 
man to drive away the deer, and the cattle had to find their 
own feeding-ground. 
Staff-hole (staf'hol), n. In metal., a small hole 
in a puddling-furnace through which the pud- 
dler heats his staff. Weale. 
stafflert (staf'ier), n. [= D. staffier, an atten- 
dant, < OF. estaffier, a lackey, footboy that 
runs by the stirrup, etc., < It. staffiere, staffiero, a 
lackey, footboy, < staffa, a stirrup (ML. staffa) 
(> dim. stafetta, a little stirrup, a courier, > 
Sp. Pg. estaffeta = F. estafette, > D. estafette = 
G. staffette = Sw. stafett = Dan. stafet, a cour- 
ier), <OHG. stapfo, staffo, MHG. G. stapfe, a 
footstep (also a stirrup?), < OHG. MHG. step- 
fen, also OHG. staphon, MHG. stapfen, step, 
tread, = E. step: see step, and cf. OBulg. stopa, 
a spur. The notion reflected on the def. as 
given in most dictionaries, that staffier means 
a 'staff-bearer,' and is connected with staff, is 
erroneous.] A footman ; an attendant. 
Before the dame, and round about, 
March'd whifflers and staffiers on foot, 
With lackies, grooms, valets, and pages, 
In fit and proper equipages. 
S. Butler, Hudibras, II. ii. 660. 
stafflsht (staf'ish), a. [In Sc. corruptly staffage; 
< staff + -wfel.] Like a staff ; rigid ; hence, in- 
tractable. Ascham, Toxophilns (ed.!864),p. 111. 
Staff-man (staf 'man), n. A workman employed 
in silk-throwing. 
Staff-notation (staf 'no-ta"shon), n. In musical 
notation, the entire system of signs used in con- 
nection with the staff: opposed, for example, to 
the tonic sol-fa notation, in which no staff is used. 
Staff-officer (staf'of'i-ser), n. An officer form- 
ing part of the staff of a regiment, brigade, 
army, or the like; in the United States navy, 
an officer not exercising military command. 
Staff-sergeant (staf'sar"jent), n. A non-com- 
missioned officer having no position in the 
ranks of a company, but attached to the staff 
of a regiment. In the United States service the staff- 
sergeants are the sergeant-major, ordnance-sergeant, hos- 
pital-steward, quartermaster-sergeant, and commissary- 
sergeant. 
Staff-tree (staf'tre), n. A vine or tree of the 
genus Celastrus. The best-known species is the 
American C. scandens, a twiner with ornamental fruit, 
otherwise named climbing bittersweet, waxwork, staff-vine, 
and fevertwig (see the last, and cut under bittersweet). The 
seeds of the East Indian C. paniculata have long been in 
repute among Hindu physicians for their stimulating and 
acrid properties, and are applied externally or internally 
for the relief of rheumatism, etc. They yield an expressed 
oil, also an empyreumatic, known as oleum nigrum. 
Staff-vine (staf'vin), n. See staff-tree. 
Stag (stag), n. [E. dial, also steg, Sc. also staig; 
early mod. E. stagg, staggc; < ME. steg, stagge, 
< Icel. steggr, steggi, a male animal (a male fox, 
cat, a gander, drake, etc. ), lit. ' mounter,' < stiga 
= AS. stigan, mount : see sty 1 . Hence stag- 
gard 1 , staggon.~\ 1. The male of various ani- 
mals, especially of the deer tribe. Specifically 
(a) The male red-deer or a deer of other large species of 
the genus Cermus in a restricted sense ; a hart, of which 
the female is a hind ; and particularly the adult hart, at 
least five years old, with antlers fully developed (com- 
Ce staggardl, and see cuts under antler) ; in heraldry, a 
ned deer with branched antlers. The stag of Europe 
is Cervus elaphus, now found wild in Great Britain only in 
the Highlands of Scotland. It is a magnificent animal, 
standing 4 feet high at the shoulder, with the antlers 3 
feet long, having sometimes ten points and palmated at 
the crown : sometimes known as a stag of ten. The hind is 
hornless and smaller. The corresponding animal in North 
America is the wapiti, there called elk (Cermis canadensis), 
larger than the European stag, with much-branched ant- 
lers sometimes upward of 4 feet long, not palmated at 
the end. (See cut under wapiti.) There are several Asiatic 
stags, among them the rusine deer (see Rusa\ , sambur). 
(b) A bull castrated when half-grown or full-grown ; a 
bull-stag; a bull-segg. (c) A male fox ; a dog-fox, (<2) A 
young horse; a colt (sometimes a filly), (e) A gander. 
(/) A drake, (g) A pit or exhibition game-cock less than 
one year old ; the cockerel of the game-fowl, (h) A tur- 
key-cock. (<) The wren. [Local, Eng.] (j) A stag-beetle. 
[In most of these uses prov. Eng.] 
2. In com. slang: (a) An outside irregular deal- 
er in stocks, not a member of the exchange, (b) 
A person who applies for the allotment of 
shares in a joint-stock company, not because 
he wishes to hold the shares, but because he 
hopes to sell the allotment at a premium. If 
he fails in this he forbears to pay the deposit, 
and the allotment is forfeited. 3. A romping 
girl; a hoyden. [Prov. Eng.] 4f. The color 
of the stag ; a red dirty-brown color. 
Come, my Cub, doe not scorne mee because I go in Stag, 
in Unite ; beer 's veluet too ; thou seest I am worth thus 
much in bare veluet. 
Dekker, Satiromastix, I. 220 (ed. Pearson). 
Royal stag, a stag that has antlers terminating in twelve 
or more points. 
stag (stag), v. ; pret. and pp. stagged, ppr. stag- 
as a stag on the stock exchange. See stag, n., 2. 
II. trans. To follow warily, as a deer-stalker 
does a deer; dog; watch. 
[Slang.] 
So you've been slagging this 
gentleman and me, and listen- 
ing, have you 1 
H. Kingsley, Geoffry Hamlyn, v. 
[(Dames.) 
stagartt, n. An obsolete 
spelling of staggard 1 . 
stag-beetle (stag'be"tl), re. 
A lamellicorn coleopterous 
insect of the genus Lucanus 
or restricted family Luca- 
nidee (which see), the males 
of which have branched 
mandibles resembling the 
antlers of a stag. L. cermts 
is the common stag-beetle of Eu- 
pp. status, stand: see state, stand. Cf. etagere. 
In the sense of 'the distance between two 
points,' the word was prob. confused with OF. 
estage, < L. stadium, < Gr. oTadtov, a measure of 
distance : see stadium, stade 2 , stadie."] If. A 
floor or story of a house. 
The Erie ascended into this tour quickly, 
As sone as he myght to hiest stage came. 
Hum. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), I. 4925. 
Litul John stode at a window In the mornynge, 
And lokld forth at a stage. 
Robin Hood and the Monk (Child's Ballads, V. 8). 
2f. A house ; building. 
Ther buth seriauns in the stage 
That serueth the maidenes of parage. 
King Horn (E. E. T. S.), p. 58. 
3. In arch., the portion between a projection 
and the retreat next above it in a medieval 
buttress; also, one of the horizontal divisions 
of a window separated by transoms. 4. A 
floor or platform elevated above the ground 
or common surface, for the exhibition of a 
play or spectacle, for public speakers or per- 
formers, or for convenience of view, use, or 
access : as, a stage for a mountebank ; a stage 
for speakers in public. 
Give order that these bodies 
High on a stage be placed to the view. 
Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 389. 
Specifically (o) A floor elevated for the convenience of 
performing mechanical work and the like ; a scaffold ; a 
... - paper are piled. 
(c) A shelf or horizontal compartment, as one of the steps 
of a court-cupboard. 
The number of stages in the bulf et or sideboard indicates 
the rank of the owner. 
S. K. Handbook, Corporation and College Plate. 
(d) The platform on which an object is placed to be viewed 
through a microscope, (e) A wooden structure on a beach 
to assist in landing ; a landing-place at a quay or pier. It 
sometimes rises and falls with the tide, or is lowered or 
raised to suit the varying height of the water. 
Getting y starteof y ships that came to the plantation, 
they tooke away their stage, & other necessary provisions 
that they had made for fishing at Cap- Anne y year before. 
Bradford, Plymouth Plantation, p. 196. 
(/) A raised platform on which theatrical performances 
are exhibited ; the flooring in a theater on which the actors 
perform. In modern theaters the stage includes not 
only the part which can be seen from the auditorium, but 
6 d a e c 
D 
\ 
ID' 
/ 
\ 
' ~^ 
jf- 
\ 
gj 
e i> 
Floor-plan of Stage. 
Stag-beetle {Lucanus rer- 
vus), one half natural size. 
A, proscenium ; B, C, D, first, second, and third prompt-entrances 
respectively; B', C', I)', first, second, and third opposite-prompt-en- 
trances respectively; E, wings; a a, center; b b, prompt-side; c f, 
o.-p.-side; d d, prompt-center; e e, o.-p.-center. 
also the spaces on each side, behind the proscenium- 
arch, which are used for shifting the wings or aide scenes, 
and are themselves called the wings. The part extending 
back from the orchestra to the proscenium-arch is called 
i\\e proscenium. That side of the stage which is on the 
extreme left of the spectator is called the prompt-side, be- 
cause in theaters which have no prompt-box the prompter 
stands there. The corresponding position to the specta- 
tor's right is called the opposite-prompt side (or, briefly, 
o.-p.-side). Half-way between the center and the prompt- 
side is the prompt-center, the corresponding position to the 
