stanch

Etymology 1

From Middle English stanch, a variant of 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]; see further at staunch.

adj

1. Archaic spelling of staunch.
   a stanch ship    a stanch churchman

adv

1. (obsolete) Possibly strictly.

Etymology 2

From Middle English stanch, stanche [and other forms], a variant of Middle English staunchen, staunche (“to stop the flow of blood, diarrhoea, or other bodily fluids; to alleviate, ease; to appease, assuage, satisfy; to cure; to overcome; to put an end to; to repress, suppress; of a river or stream: to stop flowing; of waters, wind, or weather: to become calm, subside; to extinguish or put out (a fire)”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman estauncher, estaunchier, estanger, Old French estancher, estanchier (“to stop the flow of a liquid (blood, water, etc.); to make (something) watertight; to quench (thirst)”) (modern French étancher (“to stop the flow of a liquid; to make watertight; to quench (thirst); (figuratively) to assuage, quench, satiate”) [and other forms], possibly from one of the following: * From Vulgar Latin *stagnicāre, from Latin stāgnum (“piece of standing water, pond; fen, swamp”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂g- (“to drip; to seep”). * From Vulgar Latin *stānticāre, from *stānticus (“tired”), from Latin stāns, stāntis (“standing; remaining, staying”). Stāns is the present active participle of stō (“to stand; to remain, stay”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”). Sense 1.2 (“to make (a building or other structure) watertight or weatherproof”) is derived from French étancher (“to stop water from flowing, make watertight”), from Old French estanchier (verb): see above. cognates * Catalan estancar (“to hold up, block, halt (something); to come to a standstill; to stagnate”) * Galician estancar (“to stop (the flow of blood, water, etc.)”) * Occitan estancar * Portuguese estancar (“to stop (the flow of blood); to stop (an action); to come to a standstill; to exhaust, weary”) * Spanish estancar (“to stop (the flow of water, etc.); to stop (an action); to stagnate”)

verb

1. (transitive, archaic except poetic) To stop the flow of (water or some other liquid).
   1. To stop the flow of (blood); to stop (a wound) from bleeding.
      A small amount of cotton can be stuffed into the nose to stanch the flow of blood if necessary.
   2. To make (a building or other structure) watertight or weatherproof.
2. (transitive) To check or stop, or deter, (an action).
   Beijing devotes immense resources to restricting access for and stanching scrutiny from international groups and reporters. 1 March 2019, Andrew McCormick, “What It’s Like to Report on Rights Abuses against Your Own Family”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-15
   1. To stop the progression of (an illness); also, to alleviate (pain); often followed by of: to relieve (someone's) pain.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To extinguish or put out (a fire, anger, etc.); also, to quench or satisfy (desire, hunger, thirst, etc.).
4. (intransitive, also reflexive) Of bleeding: to stop.
5. (intransitive, also reflexive, obsolete) Of an occurrence or other thing: to come to an end; to cease; also, of persons: to stop acting violently.

Etymology 3

See staunch (etymology 3).

noun

1. Alternative spelling of staunch (“that which stanches; act of stanching”)

Etymology 4

From Old French estanche (“pond; tank”), from estanc (“pond”) (modern French étang (“pond; lagoon”)), from estanchier (verb): see further at etymology 2.

noun

1. A floodgate by which water is accumulated, for floating a boat over a shallow part of a stream by its release; also, a dam or lock in a river.