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A small wooden cap at the summit of a flagstaff or a masthead, having holes in it for reeving halyards through.

A short staff, a club; a cudgel; a shaft of a spear. With his truncheon he so rudely struck. Spenser.

To raise with a spar, or piece of wood, used as a lever. [Obs.] Give me a staff that I may underspore. Chaucer.

One of the sights of a compass, quadrant, etc. Vane of a leveling staff. (Surv.) Same as Target, 3.

A wand or staff of authority or justice. [Obs.] His hand a vare of justice did uphold. Dryden.

A rod or staff, carried as an emblem of authority; as, the verge, carried before a dean.

To brandish; to move to and fro; to swing; as, to vibrate a sword or a staff.

icacy; powerfully operative; efficacious; potent. [Obs.] Chaucer. Lifting up his virtuous staff on high, He smote the sea, which calméd was with speed. Spenser. Every virtuous plant and healing herb. Milton.

archment, was joined together [by the ancients] to form one sheet, and then rolled upon a staff into a volume (volumen). Encyc. Brit.

o leave; dismissal, as from office. [Colloq.] Bartlett. -- Walking stick. (a) A stick or staff carried in the hand for hand for support or amusement when walking; a cane. (b) (Zoöl.) A stick insect; -- called also walking straw. See Illust. of Stick insect, under Stick. -- Walking wheel (Mach.), a prime mover consist…

A staff of authority. Though he had both spurs and wand, they seemed rather marks of sovereignty than instruments of punishment. Sir P. Sidney.

A truncheon or staff carried by a king or a commander in chief, and used in signaling his will. When, lo! the king suddenly changed his mind, Casts down his warder to arrest them there. Daniel. Wafting his warder thrice about his head, He cast it up with his auspicious hand, Which was the signal, through the English sp…

, to watch for the passing of, with a view to seize, rob, or slay; to beset in ambush. Falstaff, Bardolph, Peto, and Gadshill shall rob those men that we have already waylaid. Shak. She often contrived to waylay him in his walks. Sir W. Scott.

To hurry; to trouble; to tease. [Obs.] Bickerstaff.

otherwise than by whitecaps, or white, broken water, on the surface of the sea. -- White staff, the badge of the lord high treasurer of England. Macaulay. -- White stork (Zoöl.), the common European stork. -- White sturgeon. (Zoöl.) See Shovelnose (d). -- White sucker. (Zoöl.) (a) The common sucker. (b) The common…

Having a twisted distorted from. A writhen staff his step unstable guides. Fairfax.

A rod; a stick; a staff. [Obs.] P. Plowman. If men smote it with a yerde. Chaucer.

To be pained or distressed; to grieve; to mourn. [Obs.] "Falstaff he is dead, and we must yearn therefore." Shak.