flag staff
English
[edit]Noun
[edit]flag staff (countable and uncountable, plural flag staffs or flag staves)
- Alternative form of flagstaff
- 1841, Abel Flint, George Gillet, A system of geometry and trigonometry, page 104:
- The flag staves should be as much as two and a half or three inches in diameter, or what would be better, two strips of a board of that width, and seven or eight feet in length.
- 2013, David Cordingly, Billy Ruffian:
- She is depicted with huge flags flying from temporary flag staffs above her newly completed hull: the red ensign flies at her stern, a small union flag at her bows;
- 2014, John Frederick Dennett, The Voyages and Travels of Captains Ross, Parry, Franklin, and Mr. Belzoni, page 34:
- Mr. Fife's party consisted of himself and six men; and after they had wandered for three days they observed the flag staff at a great distance.
- A flag officer and his staff.
- 2013, Jean Moulin, French Cruisers, 1922–1956:
- The conning tower was a relatively compact space, with curved walls to provide maximum strength, so it could accommodate only a handful of picked staff to support the Captain and, if flag staff were embarked, the Admiral.
- 2014, Taylor Anderson, Deadly Shores, page 184:
- They and a large percentage of the flag staff were standing on Maaka-Kakja 's spacious port bridge-wing while aircraft were trundled across the flight deck on launching trucks that would be hooked to the hydraulic catapults.
- 2014, Ken Jones, Hubert Kelly Jr., Admiral Arleigh (31-Knot) Burke:
- Thirteen of the flag staff were dead, including three officers and ten enlisted men.
Usage notes
[edit]The plural flag staves applies only to the flagstaff, and not to the staff of a flag officer.