staff

«staff» in Mova's school dictionary: all the people who work for a school, shop, hospital or… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (staff — the people; a staff, staffs — a stick)

meaning for a pupil

1) The staff are all the people who work for a school, shop, hospital or company. tree →

2) A staff is a long, strong stick used for walking or carried as a sign of power. tree →

3) In music, the staff (or stave) is the set of five lines that notes are written on. tree →

sense in the lessons

In school life the staff are the teachers, assistants, office workers and caretakers; «staff room» is the room where teachers rest; «ask a member of staff» is the safe thing to do if you are lost or hurt in a shop or museum. In music lessons notes sit on the five lines of the staff. In fairy tales a wizard or shepherd carries a staff.

examples

• The school staff had a meeting after lessons. tree →
• Ask a member of staff if you need help. tree →
• The hospital staff were very kind to Grandma. tree →
• Teachers drink tea in the staff room. tree →
• The old shepherd leaned on his wooden staff. tree →
• The wizard raised his staff and the lights went out. tree →
• Draw a treble clef at the start of the staff. tree →
• The shop is short of staff today. tree →
• Suddenly the door opened, and an ancient dame leaning on a staff hobbled out. tree →

note

As a group of workers, «staff» has no usual plural: «the staff are» (UK) or «the staff is» (US); one person is «a member of staff» or «a staff member». The stick plural is «staffs» or old-fashioned «staves». Staff is a group word, so «20 staff» means 20 people.

In the corpora

• Five lines give a good range of notes; for notes above or below the staff, short extra lines are added.
• "Well known to staff" is a joking UK way to say the pupil is often in trouble.
• "Efficiency gains" often means fewer staff doing the same work.
• Safe people to ask for help when lost are workers in uniform, staff with name badges and parents with children.
• If you are separated from your adult on a train or at a station, you tell a member of staff.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «staff» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.