Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Stave \Stave\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Staved}or {Stove}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Staving}.] [From {Stave}, n., or {Staff}, n.]
   1. To break in a stave or the staves of; to break a hole in;
      to burst; -- often with in; as, to stave a cask; to stave
      in a boat.

   2. To push, as with a staff; -- with off.

            The condition of a servant staves him off to a
            distance.                             --South.

   3. To delay by force or craft; to drive away; -- usually with
      off; as, to stave off the execution of a project.

            And answered with such craft as women use, Guilty or
            guilties, to stave off a chance That breaks upon
            them perilously.                      --Tennyson.

   4. To suffer, or cause, to be lost by breaking the cask.

            All the wine in the city has been staved. --Sandys.

   5. To furnish with staves or rundles. --Knolles.

   6. To render impervious or solid by driving with a calking
      iron; as, to stave lead, or the joints of pipes into which
      lead has been run.

   {To stave and tail}, in bear baiting, (to stave) to interpose
      with the staff, doubtless to stop the bear; (to tail) to
      hold back the dog by the tail. --Nares.