Talk:staff

the definition from w:Staff (building material) should be added. --Diligent 14:56, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

• Done. SemperBlotto 15:03, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Magical staves

In literature, at the very least, staves are often associated with wizards and the like; this may be worth noting, but I’m not familiar with Wiktionary’s policies about stuff like this. It seems like a "sub-definition" to definition #1, which may be beneath Wiktionary’s interest level. The only reason I bring it up is because I came here curious if I could find some translations for it in other languages, but I don’t know which, if any, other languages have the same association. --DragoonWraith (talk) 04:56, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

That's a good point. The AHD lists four subsenses of our first sense [1] and none of them defines the magic wand associated with wizards. It could be that we should include all the subsenses, or we should remove or modify "especially one used to assist in walking" because it may be inaccurate. The problem with the former is that it could end up listing all the uses of a staff which is beyond a dictionary's scope.

As for the translations, keep them as they are and add {{qualifier|walking stick}} or whatever is necessary. It would be a pain to sort them into separate tables.

What do you think? —Internoob 05:40, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

(plural staff or staffs) The employees of a business

However Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English reads

n., pl.  staffs for 1:
[countable] A fine staff works for him.
[uncountable] I am complaining about one of your staff.

--Backinstadiums (talk) 19:47, 16 January 2020 (UTC)

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/staff_1?q=staff --Backinstadiums (talk) 09:42, 19 August 2020 (UTC)

staffing

Is staffing a synonym? --Backinstadiums (talk) 15:44, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

@Backinstadiums: You mean the sense of employees? Staff are the employees; staffing is the process of finding and hiring employees to work somewhere. Equinox ◑ 22:22, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

@Equinox: staffing reads: 2. the personnel required for some project --Backinstadiums (talk) 22:36, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

So why ask if you know the answer? Equinox ◑ 22:37, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

Plural for musical staff: staffs or staves

The plural for "staff" in the music sense is currently indicated as "staves", but it's not what can be found online elsewhere

• both - https://www.thefreedictionary.com/staff
• no plural indicated - https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-french/staff
• staffs or both - https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/staff
• both - https://www.wordreference.com/definition/staff

I will change the indicated plural to "staffs or staves"

Dragorn421 (talk) 07:42, 5 June 2022 (UTC)