Synonyms for stave
- anticipate
- avert
- avoid
- counteract
- foil
- forestall
- halt
- hold off
- preclude
- put an end to
- rule out
- thwart
- ward off
- arrest
- baffle
- balk
- bar
- block
- check
- chill
- cool
- cork
- counter
- dam
- debar
- forbid
- forfend
- frustrate
- hamper
- hinder
- impede
- inhibit
- intercept
- interdict
- interrupt
- limit
- obstruct
- obviate
- prohibit
- repress
- restrain
- restrict
- retard
- stop
- ward
- defend against
- head off
- hold back
- keep lid on
- nip in the bud
- put a stop to
- shut out
- stave off
- turn aside
Antonyms for stave
- aid
- assist
- forward
- help
- support
- abet
- advance
- allow
- approve
- continue
- encourage
- expedite
- facilitate
- free
- heat
- let go
- liberate
- open
- permit
- promote
- push
- release
- unblock
- warm
EXAMPLES FROM THE WEB FOR STAVE
Here is Arnold of Sowley will troll as good a stave as any man in the Company.
Somehow, he had hoped that his father and his friends might have been able to stave off ruin.
And she remembered her own passionate attempts to stave off despair by work.
If I could stave off poverty no real harm could come to my child.
Jack answered by a graceful flourish of his hands, and a stave of another song.
And how futile a thing it was to stave off discovery for a single day!
And sang a stave and drained a quart and called aloud for more.
Captain Long was working to stave off the impending disaster.
"I guess I can stave him off if he does," added Richard, confidently.
It might be easy to stave them off till Mr. Bertram should be under the ground; but then—what then?
WORD ORIGIN
"piece of a barrel," 1750, back-formation from staves (late 14c.), plural of staff (cf. leaves/leaf), possibly from Old English, but not recorded there. The verb (to stave in, past tense stove) is 1590s, originally nautical, on notion of bashing in the staves of a cask and letting out the contents; stave off (1620s) is literally "keep off with a staff," as of dogs.