Home › Glossary › Letter S

stanch

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To stop or stem the flow of liquid, especially blood; to check or halt bleeding; also as an adjective, meaning firm, steadfast, loyal, or watertight.

Detailed Definition
As verb, “stanch” implies control—stanching wounds; as adjective, reliability. In poetry, both appear: stanch friends, stanch the tide. The duality enriches metaphor—emotional staunchness versus physical. Poets use it to explore how loyalty or force halts loss, reinforcing themes of resilience, duty, and the body’s vulnerability in narrative and meditative traditions.
Example
Example in poetry:
“She stanch’d the wound with linen,” in a battlefield lyric; In Milton: “Stanch the flow of sin with prayer”; “His tears would not be stanched”; “Stanch not your voice in injustice”; “The river’s flow was stanched by ice”; The knight stanched his grief with duty.
Additional Notes
“Stanch” as verb means to stop bleeding—critical in battle or medical verse; as adjective (“stanch ally”), it denotes unwavering loyalty, blending physical and moral steadfastness in compact, resonant diction.
Also Known As
stop staunch halt
Skip to main content