Emily Dickinson Lexicon

STAVE, n. [from staff; Fr. douve, douvain. It has the first sound of a, as in save.]

1. A thin, narrow piece of timber, of which casks are made. Staves make a considerable article of export from New England to the West Indies.
2. A staff; a metrical portion; a part of a psalm appointed to be sung in churches.
3. In music, the five horizontal and parallel lines on which the notes of tunes are written or printed; the staff, as it is now more generally written. To stave and tail, to part dogs by interposing a staff and by pulling the tail.