staff

(plural staffs or staves) A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick, especially one used to assist in walking.

(music, plural staffs or staves) A series of horizontal lines on which musical notes are written; a stave.

(plural staff or staffs) The employees of a business.

(uncountable) A mixture of plaster and fibre used as a temporary exterior wall covering.ᵂ

A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office.

A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.

(archaic) The rung of a ladder.

A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.

(engineering) An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.

(surgery) The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.

(military) An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution.