stanch

UK/stɑːn(t)ʃ/US/stɔn(t)ʃ/

verbC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #15,198 of 15,258Too rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

To stanch is to stop a flow of blood. Stanch the wound, stanch the bleeding, hard to stanch.

Pressure is what does it — firm and directly on the wound, for minutes rather than seconds. The word also spells staunch, and the useful convention is stanch for the verb and staunch for the adjective meaning loyal, though both are used for both.

Definitions of stanch

1verbstanchTo stop a flow of blood.C2
“The medic worked quickly to stanch the blood pouring from the soldier's leg.”

stanch is a stopping.

Where it comes from

Middle English stanch, from Old French estanchier, to stop a flow. Staunch is a variant of the same word.

Middle English
stanch
English, today
stanch

Built from

staunche · Middle English — (adjective) in good condition or repair; solidly made, firm; watertight; of a person or wound: not bleeding; certain; intact; (adverb) firmly, soundly

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”)stanch; see further at staunch.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

← Vocabulary