staff1

 
Pronunciation: /stɑːf/

noun

  • 1 [treated as singular or plural] all the people employed by a particular organization: a staff of 600 hospital staff were not to blame
  • the teachers in a school or college: [as modifier]: a staff meeting
  • 2 [treated as singular or plural] a group of officers assisting an officer in command of an army formation or administration headquarters: the Polish General and his staff [as modifier]: after the Second World War he took up a string of staff appointments
  • (usually Staff)short for staff sergeant
  • 3a long stick used as a support when walking or climbing or as a weapon: a shepherd’s staff figurative he adopted literature as the staff of his pilgrimage
  • a rod or sceptre held as a sign of office or authority.
  • short for flagstaff
  • Surveying a rod for measuring distances or heights.
  • British a spindle in a watch.
  • British a token in the form of a rod given to a train driver as authority to proceed over a single-track line.

verb

[with object]
  • provide (an organization, business, etc.) with staff: legal advice centres are staffed by volunteer lawyers (as adjective staffed) all units are fully staffed

Phrases

the staff of life

a staple food, especially bread.

Origin:

Old English stæf (in staff1 (sense 3 of the noun)), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch staf and German Stab