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staunch

Pronunciation: /stɔːn(t)ʃ/

The English word “staunch” has 12 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight.
  2. Impermeable to air or other gases; airtight.
  3. Strongly built; also, in good or strong condition.
  4. Staying true to one's aims or principles; firm, resolute, unswerving.
  5. Dependable, loyal, reliable, trustworthy.
  6. Of a hunting dog: that can be depended on to pick up the scent of, or to mark, game.
  7. Cautious, restrained.
  8. Stubborn, intransigent.

noun

  1. That which stanches or checks a flow.
  2. A plant or substance which stops the flow of blood; a styptic.
  3. An act of stanching or stopping.
  4. Synonym of afterdamp (“suffocating gases present in a coal mine after an explosion caused by firedamp”).

Etymology

From Middle English staunch, staunche (“(adjective) in good condition or repair; solidly made, firm; watertight; of a person or wound: not bleeding; certain; intact; (adverb) firmly, soundly”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman estaunche, Old French estanche (“firm; watertight”) (modern French étanche (“airtight; watertight”)), a variant of estanc (“a pond”), from estanchier (“to stop the flow…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.