staving
Keeping at bay
Staving is the present participle of stave.
To stave something in is to break or crush it inward, as one might do to the wooden staves of a barrel.
More commonly, staving appears in the phrasal verb stave off, meaning to ward off or delay something unwanted: She ate a handful of nuts, staving off hunger until dinner.
The word retains its connection to the idea of keeping something at bay through forceful effort.
Prevent by prior action
- ward offActively prevent approach
- fend offDeflect an advance
- hold offDelay or resist
- preventStop in advance
keep at bay · preclude · obviate · deflect · divert · thwart · circumvent · intercept
barrel
Hooped cylindrical vessel
hoop · plank · cooper · vat · tub · keg · timber · repair · reinforce · brace
forestall
Prevent by prior action
keep at bay · prevent · preclude · obviate · deflect · divert · thwart · circumvent · intercept · head off
hunger
Need for nourishment
- famineSevere food shortage
- starvationExtreme nutritional deprivation
- deprivationState of lacking necessities
scarcity · subsist · endure · persist · hold out · get by · scrape by · outlast · withstand · eke out
delay
Enforced waiting period
suspend · adjourn · table · shelve · procrastinate · reschedule · mothball · prorogue · stay · reprieve
stavingwelcoming
Receiving others warmly
inviting · permitting · allowing · admitting · accepting
stavingreinforcing
Making more robust
repairing · mending · strengthening · rebuilding · fortifying
- staving offPreventing or delaying
staff, staffed, staffs, staffing, stave, staffer, staffers, staves, staved