staff

1.
n. & v.
—n.
1 a a stick or pole for use in walking or climbing or as a weapon. b a stick or pole as a sign of office or authority. c a person or thing that supports or sustains. d a flagstaff. e Surveying a rod for measuring distances, heights, etc. f a token given to an engine-driver on a single-track railway as authority to proceed over a given section of line. g a spindle in a watch.
2 a a body of persons employed in a business etc. (editorial staff of a newspaper). b those in authority within an organization, esp. the teachers in a school. c Mil. etc. a body of officers assisting an officer in high command and concerned with an army, regiment, fleet, or air force as a whole (general staff). d (usu. Staff) Mil. = staff sergeant.
3 (pl. staffs or staves) Mus. a set of usu. five parallel lines on any one or between any adjacent two of which a note is placed to indicate its pitch.
—v.tr. provide (an institution etc.) with staff.
Phrases and idioms:
staff college Brit. Mil. etc. a college at which officers are trained for staff duties. staff notation Mus. notation by means of a staff, esp. as distinct from tonic sol-fa. staff nurse Brit. a nurse ranking just below a sister. staff officer Mil. an officer serving on the staff of an army etc. staff sergeant
1 Brit. the senior sergeant of a non-infantry company.
2 US a non-commissioned officer ranking just above sergeant.
Derivatives:
staffed adj. (also in comb.).
Etymology: OE staeligf f. Gmc
2.
n. a mixture of plaster of Paris, cement, etc., as a temporary building-material.
Etymology: 19th c.: orig. unkn.